829 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A NEST OF FRAUDS REVAMPED. 
COMMISSION MEN COMMISSIONED FOK ROGUERY. _ 
That Hateful Old Hayt Again. 
The R. N.-Y. for years has warned its readers against 
frauds of various kinds. It has cost the paper many 
thousands of dollars in advertising to follow out this 
course ; but we have the satisfaction of feeling that 
we have been the means of saving a much larger 
amount to careful readers. We have particularly 
warned our readers against those who, either with 
goods to sell, or wishing to buy or sell on commission, 
make extravagant and unusual promises ; those who 
agree to do more than responsible and well recom¬ 
mended dealers agree to do. This class appeal to the 
cupidity of human nature—to that quality which 
makes a man desirous of getting all possible for his 
money or his goods, even though be know that what 
is offered is unreasonable, and more than he can fairly 
expect. One feature of our work in this line, has been 
in warning our readers against dishonest and irre¬ 
sponsible commission-merchants in this city. Our 
efforts in this direction have been highly commended 
by reputable dealers, and we have been bullied by 
some of those whom we have exposed. We purpose, 
however, to continue so long as the necessity seems to 
exist. It is a little discouraging, however, to see how 
easily these sharks entrap their victims, in spite 
of all that is said. 
O 
Older readers will remember our exposure in The 
R. N.-Y. of April 28 last, of the methods of Stephen 
II. ilayt, one of the most contemptible frauds in this 
line it has ever been our ill fortune to meet. For the 
benefit of newer readers we will review briefly the 
methods by which this cla.ss of dealers obtain ship¬ 
ments. In various ways, they obtain the names of 
farmers. To these circulars and price currents are 
sent, setting forth the particular advantages enjoyed 
by the sender for making more advantageous sales, 
and for obtaining better prices than other dealers. 
They quote prices far beyond those quoted by other 
dealers. They generally give references, sometimes 
without authority, knowing that few e»er take the 
trouble to write to such, and often the names of black¬ 
legs like themselves. Of course, the latter will give a 
good character to their fellow thieves. Two swindlers 
often work in partnership, each giving the other as 
reference. But the high quotations generally do the 
work, and large shipments result. Some of these may 
be small, evidently for the purpose of testing the mat¬ 
ter, and returns are generally sent for these at high 
figures for a bait. That all such advances are more 
than made up later, goes without saying. 
O 
To return to our old admirer, Hayt; after our ex¬ 
posure, he disappeared, but we have heard rumors 
lately that he was up to his old tricks again. Recently 
we received from a friend a circular and price cur¬ 
rent of the character we have mentioned, with the 
intimation that it was issued by no other than Mr. 
Hayt. The name at the head was A. J. Clark, and a 
cut of an immense building showed this name in big 
letters across the front. The circular made state¬ 
ments that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to 
substantiate, and many of the quotations were higher 
than those of the regular dealers. The name is found 
at the number given, but on a small sign in a door¬ 
way, where a small space only is rented. Five refer¬ 
ences are given, to which we wrote for information. 
One claimed to be a banker, but his name is not found 
in the commercial reports. Of course he gave a glow¬ 
ing recommendation. Another city reference did like¬ 
wise, but all the transactions he had had, had been to 
buy goods of him. Of three out-of-town references, 
only one had responded up to the time of going to 
press, and he says that he has been shipping to Mr. C. 
this winter only, and has had honorable treatment. 
This party is reported to have little financial standing. 
We got hold of an ex-employee of the house in 
question. He went there in response to an ad. for 
help. He says that Mr. Hayt hired him, set him to 
work, and told Mr. Clark how much to pay him. Mr. 
H. seemed to be the boss, and Mr. C. merely a figure¬ 
head. Now Mr. Clark may be perfectly square and 
honest, and we would under no consideration say any¬ 
thing to injure him. But his circulars are misleading, 
and he is harboring one of the worst frauds in the 
commission business that ever cursed the trade in New 
York. We also received a circular purporting to be 
issued by Connell & Co., an “old-established house.” 
They are located in a cellar, and haven’t a sign out. 
Their circular also belongs to the class already de¬ 
scribed, and makes many misleading statements. 
Another cii’cular sent out by James Ebenezer Smith, 
is a combination of bad grammar and fairy tales about 
his superior methods of doing business and securing 
high prices. His statements are many of them simply 
ridiculous, and are far more misleading than some of 
the others. There are plenty of other similar firms. 
Any one of experience in this trade knows one of 
these frauds on sight, but it isn’t always possible to 
prove them so. Some of them are old acquaintances 
under new names. Reputable dealers say that there 
seems to be a nest of these fellows. There is no rea¬ 
son for shipping to them, for there are plenty of re¬ 
sponsible dealers who will sell produce for all that it 
is worth, and make honest retm-ns. After these oft 
repeated warnings, any one who is taken in, deserves 
little sympathy. _ 
THE PROSPECT. 
It is said that “ the bull is half the herd” in devel¬ 
oping a good herd of dairy cows. What then is the 
other half ? It seems to us that the bull is given too 
much prominence in this estimate. Take the heifer 
pictured on our first page. That is not far from a fair 
representative of the stock from which dairy herds 
are to be made. The selection of the cow ought to be 
as important as that of the bull. A fairer division of 
responsibility would be to say that the bull, the cow 
and the food are each one-third of the herd. Are we 
not right ? 
O 
Last June, a reader on Long Island wrote us that 
he had a number of acres of wheat and a herd of cat¬ 
tle. There was no profit in selling the grain —could 
he not cut the whole plant early, and thus save on the 
hay bill ? We advised him to experiment with a por¬ 
tion of the field. Here is his report: 
Thanks for The R. N.-Y.’s advice concerning wheat hay, given 
in June. It was a success. It has a deilglitful aroma. Cows and 
horses prefer it to clover hay. I cut it when in blossom, before the 
kernel formed. I shall mow more next season. I think 1 have 
solved the wheat problem. 
Did it ever occur to you that the total feeding value 
in the dry straw and hard grain from an acre of wheat, 
might be less than that in the same crop when cut 
early and cured as hay ? There certainly cannot be 
any less, and we believe the cow will find more actu¬ 
ally digestible nutriment in the tender hay than in the 
grain and woody straw. In this case, the cost of 
thrashing is saved, while haymaking is cheaper than 
harvesting. 
Q 
This year closes dark and disappointing to some of 
our readers. Drought and low prices have prevailed 
in many sections, and while there may be enough on 
hand to eat, drink and wear, money for payments that 
demand cash is hard to obtain. At such times, there 
are always people who imagine that their lot is about 
as bad as can be, and that no one else has anything 
like so hard a time. We do not like that spirit. It is 
wrong from every point of view to go about brooding 
over and advertising your own troubles while others 
with far heavier cro.sses than yours, can find something 
to be happy over. Talk about hard times in farming, 
you people who can sit in tight houses, with a stove 
full of fuel near you—read this note from one of our 
Oregon readers. This man bought a place, made a 
good payment, and set out fruits, etc. Now he has 
lo.st his home, and cannot find profitable work or 
even rent a place. Read what he says : 
That we had crops here but no market, was due this year to a 
combination of circumstances. The strike stopped shipment of 
fruits from California, and the canneries there did an extraordi¬ 
nary amount of work to try to save something to the growers; and 
in view of this fact and tightness of money market, the Oregon 
canneries did not run, except two, at East Portland and at Forest 
Grove, and they were overstocked, of course. My fruit, that in an 
ordinary year would have made my payment and saved my home, 
found absolutely no market. I did not get one per cent of a price. 
My farm of 35 acres, for which two years ago, I refused $3,500 cash, 
can now be bought for nearly $1,000 less. Our Oregon laws need 
an amendment that will give the buyer his equity in the place in 
the event of making default of payment. The Building and Loan 
associations of Oregon are having a “gold mine worked for them” 
this year. Places worth from $500 to $5,000, with only a few months’ 
payments yet to be made, are being taken, as the owners, out of 
employment, are defaulting. 
Let us hear no more complaints unless you can match 
that. IIow would you like to live at the mercy of a 
lot of railroad strikers in a country so drained of cash 
that farmers must bid for it in increased quantities of 
their products ? Our New Year’s thought for you is 
that it is a bad thing for your country and for you that 
such things should be true—even though they occur 
2,000 miles away from your home. 
O 
We have had some letters from a firm in Kentucky 
called, “The Ream Co., Fruit Growers and Nursery¬ 
men.” We knew there were four members of this firm, 
but did not know more about them until this note 
came from the secretary : 
I am a boy of 21 and have been studying apple culture for tive- 
or six years. The company consists of the family, father, mother, 
brother and myself. We have but a small nursery from which to 
raise our own trees and get the experience to be had in that way.” 
We commend that business arrangement to our read¬ 
ers. That is the way to keep the boys on the farm, 
and to give mother a proper share. We want to see 
such a combination prosper. There is no patent on 
that arrangement. Only one thing stands in its way, 
and that is father’s fear that he might lose a little 
something by taking the family into partnership. 
January 1, 1895 will be a good day for organizing 
some such corporation on yonr farm ! 
W 
A WOMAN in New York State writes us the follow¬ 
ing note : 
From the issue of Tue R. N.-Y. of December 8, I draw the con¬ 
clusion that you are willing to examine manuscripts from new 
writers. The enclosed manuscript details an experiment I made 
last spring. You say that you can put a little money into the 
pockets of the men in exchange for their ideas, so I thought, 
‘‘should my article prove available, you would do the same by me.” 
Certainly we want to examine articles from new 
writers. All we ask is that before they send their con¬ 
tributions, they will read carefully what is printed on 
page 784. The women are more than welcome to sub¬ 
mit their ideas. When we referred to “ man,” we had 
in mind Webster’s definition : “ The human race— 
mankind.” 
O 
Two years ago, the legislature of Massachusetts 
passed a law prohibiting the sale of “oleo” colored in 
imitation of yellow butter produced from pure milk 
or cream. The “oleo” dealers fought this law and 
carried it up to the United States Supreme Court for 
decision. That court upholds the law and says that 
under the United States Constitution any State 
has the power to exclude from its markets any 
compound made in another State which has been arti¬ 
ficially colored or adulterated so as to cause it to look 
like an article of food in general use, and the sale of 
which may, by reason of such coloration or adultera- 
ti n, cheat the general public into purchasing that 
which they may not intend to buy. This decision will, 
we think, have a marked effect on the trade in “oleo.” 
It will doubtless lead to many State laws prohibiting 
the .sale of yellow “oleo.” In that case, the bogus 
stuff will be sold in ita natural color, viz., lard and 
cotton oil mixed—which is what ought to be. The 
newspaper organ of the “oleo” manufacturei’S in this 
city says of this decision : 
Tliere is ho doubt that a severe blow has been struck at the 
packers and manufacturers of butterine. The packers will have 
to curtail production, and may liave to withdraw their stock from 
the States in which a “color ’.aw” exists. 
Considering the fact that this paper has always sneered 
at any attempts to enforce this color law, we call that 
pretty good evidence that the fratid must now come 
out of the trade. 
O 
The R. N.-Y. has been outspoken in denouncing the 
present management of the New York State Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. We have repeatedly charged that 
this department is a mere political machine making 
most ludicrously small returns to agriculture for the 
money which it handles. We have repeatedly called 
upon the friends of this department to defend it or 
show wherein it is worthy of support and prai.se. Its 
friends are dumb as oysters in the face of these 
charges and demands. We do not know what course 
Governor Morton will pursue in dealing with this de¬ 
partment. We hope he will re-organize it thoroughly 
and place a man at its head who will not only be practic¬ 
ally indentified with agriculture, but will possess the 
executive and organizing ability necessary to make the 
department what it should be. We also hope that the 
incoming legislature will give such a commissioner the 
necessary powers to make his work fully effective. 
Naturally the value of such a department will depend 
largely upon the ability of the man selected to head 
it, for as it is organized, so will it naturally continue 
to be. The R. N.-Y. suggests the name of S. D. Wil¬ 
lard, of Geneva, for this position. There are many 
men in New York State who would bring honor to this 
department, but it seems to us, after a careful survey 
of the field, that Mr. Willard is peculiarly well fitted 
to take charge of the department at this important 
time. He is a practical and successful farmer, enjoy¬ 
ing the confidence and esteem of all who know him. 
He is a man of ripe years and experience, who has 
traveled much and carefully observed the changing 
conditions of agriculture in different parts of the 
country. Above all, he has a capacity for organiza¬ 
tion and detail work that will be of immense value, 
since the department must be created from its very 
foundation. Our belief is that Mr. Willard would make 
an excellent Commi.ssioner—that he would organize 
for New York State farmers, a department that would 
prove of great value. We simply suggest his name at 
this time. Later we expect to present some argu¬ 
ments in favor of his appointment. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
That poultry catalo^e or ffuWe to poultry raisers, offered by 
John Bauscher Jr., P. O. Box 66, Freeport, Ill., contains some valu¬ 
able information. Why not get it ? 
The Record Improved double tin sap spout takes well with the 
sugar makers, and is a great improvement on the old-style spouts. 
It does not injure the tree; it yields more sap, and is cheap. Sam¬ 
ple sent free by the Record Mfg. Co., of Conneaut, O. 
Hoa raisers and general stock farmers have long been looking 
for some means of successfully assisting sows to deliver their 
pigs, as valuable animals are often lost at farrowing time. This 
want has been met by J. N. Reimers’s patent pig forceps. These 
forceps are long, light, smooth, and clamp firmly over the head or 
feet of the pig, thus enabling the operator to remove the young 
animal without injury to the dam. Particulars will be furnished 
by Mr. Reimers on application. 
A CHEAP, durable and substantial fence is what many farmers 
need. Barb wire is dangerous, and expensive when we consider 
the damage to stock; wooden fences are becoming more and more 
expensive and are cumbersome aiiJ short lived at best. The 
woven wire fence seems to give general satisfaction, and is be¬ 
coming quite popular. The Carter wire fence is said to cost only 
about 25 cents a rod; and where we have seen it, it makes a most 
substantial fence. Full particulars will be furnished by the 
Carter Wire Fence Co., Box 30, Derby, O. It will be well to get their 
illustrated catalogue. 
