86 
C%g  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
rn  k  nr  sis  ess  fai:  mbits  paper 
A  National  Weekly  .Innrniil  Cor  Conittry  and  Suburban  llonicx 
Etlablighed 
PuhlLhi-d  weekly  by  the  Rural  I'nMishitie  Company.  3.1:1  IVftt  30ih  Slrroi.  .New  York 
IIekuRUT  VV,  C0t.LrS0"'0jJI',  rnwldont  and  Editor. 
Jons  .1.  Dii.i .ox,  TiwiRiii'or  mill  Owit-nil  Muilafror. 
Wsi.  F.  DlU-ox.  Si'Pi-Haiy.  Mnh.  E  T,  JU'YLi:.  Associate  Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION  :  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
To  foreign  eountiiiw  in  tlie  I'niven'iil  I'm-tnl  t'nion.  equal  in  8s.  fid.,  or 
«>.,  nmi  lo.  hi  10\i  franc*.  Ifrmlt  in  iiiotipy  order,  express 
order,'  iitu^onal  cheek  nr  bn nk  draft,. 
Entered  at  New  York  Port,  Office  a»  Second  Class  Matter. 
Advertising  rates. 76  rents  per  ligate  line — 7  w  ords.  References  required  for 
advertisers  unknown  toils  ,  and  cash  must  aeeompany  transient  orders. 
"A  SQUARE  DEAL" 
Wr  believe  that  every  advertisement  in  ibis  paper  is  backed  by  a  respon¬ 
sible  person.  We  use  every  possible  iiivoiiiiikm  and  admit  the  advertising  of 
reliable  Ihhiack  only.  But  to  make  ooubl.v  hiiiv  wo  will  make  pood  any  loss 
to  paid  Mib.seribers  sustajiied  by  IriiMiiur  mt'  deliberate  •■w  indier,  lrreKpon- 
sibli  advertisers  or  misleading  advert isi  tin  ids  in  our  columns,  and  any 
SIR-Il  swindler  will  lie  publicly  exposed.  We  are  also  oftetl  called  upon 
to  adjust  differences  or  mi-take*  between  our  Subscribers  arid  honest, 
n  spoii-ible  houses,  w  hether  advertisers  or  net.  Wr  willingly  use  nur  good 
offiees  to  this  end,  lair  sue))  cimeK  should  Hot  bo  ooiifiised'wltii  didione-l 
transactions.  Wo  protect  Mib«e-ril>em  against  rogues.  Inn  wo  will  not  lie 
I,  -iiensiblr  for  the  debts  of  honest  bankrupts  sanctioned  liv  the  courts. 
Notice  of  the  complaint  must  lie  sent  to  us  within  one  month  of  the  time  of 
the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it.  you  should  mention  Tiie  Ri  rai.  Nbw- 
6  oft K K ft  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
IT  is  quite  surprising  how  many  farmers  tell  us 
they  have  been  for  some  years  mixing  a  little 
Alfalfa  seed  with  the  grass  and  clover  whenever 
they  seed  down.  This  does  not  cost  much  and.  in  the 
beginning,  they  do  not  see  much  of  the  Alfalfa. 
Slowly  it  conies  in  a  little  at  first  and  then  more 
and  more  until  the  soil  can  he  easily  seeded  in  full 
to  Alfalfa.  We  think  this  is  good  practice.  Put  a 
little  Alfalfa  and  also  some  Alsike  in  with  the  Red 
clover  seed. 
* 
HERE  is  a  trick  that  will  be  worked  this  year. 
Agents  come  along  offering  ashes  for  sale  at 
a  fair  price.  Nothing  is  said  about  any  analysis  ex¬ 
cept  that  the  ashes  are  guaranteed  to  he  "pure.” 
There  are  still  some  people  who  know  that  wood 
ashes  are  valuable  and  think  all  ashes  are  alike. 
The  offer  looks  like  a  bargain,  and  they  buy  only 
to  find  that  they  have  received  pure  coal  ashes, 
worth,  as  plant  food,  about  50  cents  a  ton!  There 
are  two  great  things  to  remember  about  ashes. 
Never  buy  coal  ashes  as  plant  food  and  never  mix 
wood  ashes  with  hen  manure. 
* 
WE  are  glad  to  state  that  the  "sign”  for  the  new 
year  is  right — could  not  be  better.  Our 
readers  took  care  of  that.  The  subscription  mail 
on  January  3  was  nearly  $200  larger  than  on  any 
other  single  day  in  the  history  of  this  business. 
The  only  day  that  ever  came  that  near  it  was  some 
years  ago  when  Jan.  1  came  on  Monday,  so  that 
three  days  were  lumped  in  one.  And  our  folks  did 
not  exhaust  themselves  eirlier.  for  each  succeeding 
day  has  been  ahead  of  last  year's  record.  That  is 
the  sort  of  “sign”  our  readers  give  us  this  year. 
Thank  you !  We  appreciate  it  and  will  pay  it 
back  in  service. 
* 
OER  worthy  friend  "The  Frnitman's  Guide" 
should  eat  several  baked  apples.  They  contain 
phosphoric  acid,  which  helps  build  up  nerve  and 
bone.  They  might  perhaps  serve  as  a  sort  of  serum 
treatment  for  the  disease  known  as  bonohoad.  On 
page  14  we  said  ‘‘The  produce  trade  has  nothing  to 
fight  for  hut  graft!”  We  wanted  to  know  what  else 
it  has  for  in  every  honest  line  of  its  business  it 
would  be  better  to  make  peace  with  producers.  The 
Guide  gives  this  comprehensive  answer: 
As  tor  the  FrciTMAX’s  Guide,  it  no  more  than  the 
Rural  y etc -Yorker,  is  ‘‘too  proud  to  fight.”  And  light 
it  will  against  any  man  or  set  ol'  men  whose  set  policy 
it  is  to  vilify  an  entire  trade  that  is  a  component,  part 
of  the  country's  economic  system  because  they  feel  they 
can  do  it  with  safety  to  their  own  worthless  hides. 
Worthless  hides!  That's  good!  As  our  pugna¬ 
cious  friend  pulls  off  its  coat  and  straps  the  chip 
securely  to  its  shoulder  we  are  minded  of  another 
reference  to  "hides."  Shakespeare,  the  great  stu¬ 
dent  of  human  nature,  puts  it  this  way: 
“Thou  wear  lion's  hide!  Doff  it  for  shame, 
And  hang  a  calfskin  on  thy  recreant  limbs!" 
* 
A  GOOD  share  of  the  medals  won  by  New  York 
apples  at  the  Panama  Exposition  went  to  our 
old  friend  Grant  ditchings  of  Onondaga  County. 
The  Hudson  River  and  Western  New  York  growers 
seem  to  have  won  a  share  of  these  medals,  but  we 
think  Ilitehings  led  in  numbers.  Now  here’s  a  remark¬ 
able  tiling  about  the  orchard  in  which  this  gold  medal 
fruit  was  grown.  In  1S99  this  farm  of  11  1  acres 
carried  a  mortgage  of  $2,250.  The  owner  had  been 
growing  grain  on  this  land,  and  his  figures  showed 
that  the  grain  cost  him  more  than  he  got  for  it. 
lie  told  Mr.  Ditchings  that  he  would  pay  $250  of 
the  mortgage  if  Ditchings  would  take  t lie  land  and 
assure  the  remaining  $2,000!  Thus  this  land  cost 
less  than  $20  per  acre.  It  was  poor  and  run  down, 
but  Mr.  Ditchings  put  trees  in  the  sod  as  he  usually 
does,  and  gave  them  good  care.  Today  75  acres  of 
this  farm  are  planted  in  trees,  and  pay  a  good  divi¬ 
dend  on  a  valuation  of  $1,000  per  acre!  Those  of 
us  who  remember  the  early  struggles  of  Mr.  Ditch¬ 
ings  take  satisfaction  in  knowing  that  he  now  has 
under  his  charge  30.500  trees,  and  we  believe  be 
will  live  to  see  them  average  three  barrels  each! 
This  is  no  story  for  a  buck- to-tli e-lander  who  im¬ 
agines  he  can  put  a  tree  into  sod  and  then  sit  down 
and  watch  it  produce  a  crop  of  gold  medals  and 
dollars.  There  are  something  like  103,000,000  peo¬ 
ple  in  this  country,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  500  could 
be  found  to  duplicate  Hitchings’s  job. 
* 
1  have  a  new  frail  which  1  know  is  superior  to 
most  onlimirn  varieties  now  under  cultivation.  Ran 
I.  under  Ihe  law .  control  its  propagation  and  sale 
the  same  as  1  could  a  patented  article? 
IDS  question,  in  various  forms,  comes  to  us  at 
least  50  times  a  year.  We  regret  to  be  obliged 
to  answer  no — the  law  gives  you  practically  no 
rights  with  your  variety  after  it  has  once  been  dis¬ 
tributed.  A  man  may  fasten  a  few  sticks  and  a 
string  together  in  a  certain  way,  obtain  a  patent  and 
have  a  monopoly  for  manufacturing.  The  govern¬ 
ment  will  protect  him  against  the  world.  With  a 
new  fruit,  as  far  as  the  courts  have  decided,  the 
case  is  different,  since  the  sticks  and  the  string  are 
manufactured  by  man.  while  the  fruit  is  a  natural 
product.  A  man  buys  a  tree  of  a  new  fruit  and 
plants  it  on  his  own  land.  It  then  becomes  a  part 
of  his  real  estate  and.  as  we  understand  the  law. 
he  may  sell  scions  from  it  or  use  them  on  seedling 
trees  of  his  own  for  sale  or  gift.  Of  course  this 
destroys  any  monopoly  that  the  originator  may  have, 
for  after  one  or  two  years  all  nurserymen  may  have 
the  new  variety  for  sale.  Therefore  one  year  with 
vines  and  two.  or  at  most,  three  years  with  fruit 
trees  is  about  the  limit  of  time  during  which  the 
originator  can  have  any  monopoly. 
These  are  the  facts  as  we  understand  them.  It 
is  a  very  unjust  situation,  for  the  originator  of  a 
valuable  new  fruit  has  just  as  much  right  to  enjoy 
a  monopoly  of  sale  as  the  owner  of  a  patent.  If  we 
had  the  power  to  do  so  we  would  grant  him  one, 
and  we  think  other  nurserymen  might  well  recog¬ 
nize  hi:  moral  right,  since  the  legal  right  is  denied 
him.  We  would  like  to  join  in  carrying  a  case  of 
this  soft  up  to  the  Supreme  Court,  though  able 
lawyers  say  there  would  he  no  hope.  Euless  men 
can  be  well  compensated  for  their  time  and  the 
financial  risk  they  assume  they  will  not  introduce 
and  make  known  the  qualities  of  superior  fruits  and 
dozens  of  sterling  varieties  which  ought  to  be  widely 
distributed  will  thus  never  he  known  outside  of 
their  home  locality.  There  is.  however,  another 
side  to  this.  The  buying  public  demand  these  new 
introductions  at  low  or  fair  prices,  and  seem  to  have 
little  respect  for  the  originator's  rights  when  they 
think  the  price  is  too  high.  We  therefore  answer 
the  question  as  it  is  put  to  us.  Personally  we  would 
give  the  originator  every  right  enjoyed  by  a  paten¬ 
tee,  but  the  law,  the  nurserymen  and  the  public  have 
decided  otherwise.  Some  nurserymen  offer  the  new 
variety  under  its  chosen  name,  others  change  the 
name  somewhat  to  avoid  responsibility.  We  think 
the  nursery  business  would  he  in  a  stronger  position 
if  all  respected  the  originator's  rights  and  gave  him 
a  fair  showing,  but  the  law  and  custom  have  now 
been  known  for  some  years  and  be  who  introduces 
a  new  variety  knows  what  the  outcome  must  bo 
I'lie  buyer  must  take  his  chance  as  to  whether  he 
receives  the  true  variety  when  it  is  budded  from  un¬ 
fruited  wood. 
* 
There  is  at  least  one  tiling  for  which  the  American 
public  should  be  grateful  to  Tom  Barron.  De  never 
tried  to  put  across  any  "systems.”  "secrets,”  or  to  ob¬ 
tain  exorbitant  prices  for  his  stock.  De  might  have 
made  such  exploiting  very  profitable  two  years  ago. 
J. 
THERE  is  great  truth  in  that,  and  it  comes  from 
one  who  thinks  the  "Barron"  stock  of  Leghorns 
and  Wyandottes  should  not  he  mixed  with  our 
American  strains.  Starting  with  Philo  and  a  dozen 
others,  various  “systems”  and  formulas  have  been 
exploited,  and  the  public  have  been  bled  white 
through  the  aid  of  spectacular  news  and  advertis¬ 
ing,  Not  one  of  these  people  with  the  wonderful 
"systems"  has  had  the  nerve  to  get  into  an  egg-lay¬ 
ing  contest  with  Tom  Barron.  Tie  has  sent  his  birds 
5,000  miles  over  the  ocean,  with  no  strings  tied  to 
them,  acted  like  a  true  “sport”  and  uniformly  won 
a  good  share  of  honors.  To  make  Die  first  compar¬ 
ison  which  comes  to  mind,  we  think  Barron  has 
done  more  for  the  poultry  industry  than  Burbank 
has  done  for  horticulture,  yet  plain  Tom  Barron  has 
not  tried  to  fool  or  bleed  the  public,  or  take  any 
unfair  advantage  of  the  genuine  publicity  be  lias 
received.  This  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  howl¬ 
ing  dervishes  who  pull  every  possible  wire  to  bring 
themselves  into  notice. 
January  15,  1916, 
TELEGRAM  announcing  the  death  of  Win.  IT. 
Bowlcer  came  as  a  great  shock  to  the  writer. 
For  more  than  30  years  we  have  known  him  with 
growing  intimacy,  and  only  a  few  days  ago  he  came 
here  like  a  boy  in  bis  hope  and  enthusiasm  for  the 
future.  De  then  seemed  in  the  best  of  health  and 
we  well  remember  saying  as  he  left  "Happy  days  and 
5,000  of  them!"  It  seemed  like  a  conservative  wish 
as  he  stood  there  with  the  old  kindly  smile  and 
hopeful  face.  Win.  H.  Bowker  well  deserves  the 
title  of  good  citizen.  lie  took  part  in  many  public 
enterprises  and  quietly  interested  himself  in  many 
private  acts  of  benevolence  and  help.  We  could 
tell  many  little  stories  to  show  how  this  strong  and 
kindly  man  went  out  of  his  way  to  help.  lie  was 
a  good  fighter  and  a  good  friend.  He  applied  one 
saying  to  his  fertilizers  which  will  live  as  a  classic. 
For  the  Land's  Sake!”  We  once  met  an  old  South¬ 
ern  farmer  who  said  ho  nominated  a  new  presiden¬ 
tial  ticket.  It  was  Nash  and  Bowker.  De  meant 
the  late  Duane  II.  Nash,  who  manufactured  the 
Acme  harrow,  and  Mr.  Bowker,  who  worked  "for 
the  land’s  sake!”  We  have  lost,  a  strong,  kindly 
friend  who  will  be  missed.  As  for  his  personal 
character  we  can  do  no  better  than  endorse  the 
estimate  of  Mr.  Miller,  printed  on  page  SO. 
IT  was  an  open  secret  that  a  good  many  large  ap¬ 
ple  growers  and  buyers  went  to  the  N.  Y.  State 
Fruit  Growers'  Association  to  make  trouble  for  (be 
Department,  of  Foods  and  Markets.  Thousands  of 
copies  of  The  Packer,  containing  violent  abuse  and 
misstatements,  have  been  circulated  all  through 
Western  New  York,  and  full  preparations  were  made 
by  interested  parties  to  give  the  Department  the 
cold  shoulder  or  worse.  Instead  of  that  the  mem¬ 
bers.  after  listening  to  a  fair  statement  of  wlmt  the 
Department  has  done,  and  what  it  plans  to  do, 
unanimously  endorsed  the  work  of  the  Department 
and  the  Commissioner  and  urged  Governor  Whit¬ 
man  and  the  Legislature  to  give  support  and  ade¬ 
quate  appropriations.  They  also  pledged  apple  ship¬ 
ments  to  the  auction  markets.  This  is  the  most  rep¬ 
resentative  fruit  growers’  organization  in  the  coun¬ 
try  and  probably  the  largest  and  most  powerful 
as  well.  Under  the  circumstances  this  endorsement 
is  very  gratifying  and  if  it  is  properly  supported 
will  result  in  a  great  auction  plant  at  Rochester, 
which  will  save  millions  of  dollars  to  Western  New 
York  farmers. 
♦ 
THESE  scientific  men  are  chasing  after  every¬ 
thing  these  days.  From  the  unseen  germ  or  life 
form  which  is  responsible  for  foot  and  mouth  dis¬ 
ease  up  to  the  elephant,  all  who  enjoy  life  or  find 
it  a  burden  are  being  investigated.  The  sitting  hen 
comes  in  for  her  share.  The  managers  of  the  Mis¬ 
souri  egg-laying  contest  now  say  about  our  stead¬ 
fast  friend  the  brooder: 
“We  are  convinced  that  bloodiness  is  a  condition 
of  the  brain  and  not  of  the  bod/).'' 
When  we  have  seen  a  hen  sit  on  a  door  knob  and 
two  stones  and  light  like  a  tiger  when  some  one 
tried  to  take  the  door  knob  away  it  has  seemed  like 
a  mind  diseased,  fhe  remedy  suggested  is  based 
mi  the  fact  that  a  lien  is  a  jealous  creature.  If 
we  pul  her  in  a  wire  coop  where  she  is  kept  cool 
and  can  sec  the  rest  of  the  hens  ranging  about  with 
their  mate  she  will  change  her  mind!  The  R.  I. 
Red  is.  as  a  breed,  probably  most  inclined  to  brood, 
and  probably  the  Leghorn  is  least  inclined  that  way. 
Jf  it  is  a  brain  trouble  have  the  Reds  as  a  breed  a 
quicker  and  stronger  brain  than  the  Leghorn,  or  is 
it  the  other  way? 
Brevities 
When  iu  doubt-  eat  an  apple. 
This  dog  discussion  has  teeth  on  it. 
The  cows  in  your  herd  are  there  for  a  purpose. 
What  is  it,  society  or  profit? 
In  Lancaster  Go.,  Pa.,  they  regard  t ho  Carolina 
poplar  tree  as  an  overgrown  and  rather  dangerous 
weed." 
The  German  government  has  issued  $00,000,000  of 
stcei  money.  They  are  five-pfennig  pieces,  or  1.2  cents 
of  American  pioney. 
Canada  has  declared  an  embargo  on  hay  shipped  to 
this  country  Canadian  hay  may  now  only  be  sent  to 
the  United  Kingdom,  France.  Japan,  Italy  and  Russia. 
"What  do  vou  think  of  a  man  who  remarks,  ‘I  do 
not  care  about  the  Christmas  presents  being  delayed,  I 
want  The  R.  N  Y"'  asks  E.  S.  K.  We  are  bound  to 
think  him  u  very  intelligent  and  discriminating  man! 
Still  there  comes  ti  demand  for  information  about 
Spring  wheat.  We  would  not  advise  sowing  it  on 
the  Atlantic  slope  You  cannot  reasonably  expect  more 
than  half  the  yield  of  Winter  wheat.  Barley  or  oats 
will  give  a  more  useful  crop. 
EVERY  now  and  then  a  scare  over  trichinosis  from 
eating  infected  pork  is  started.  Thorough  cooking  is 
the  surest  prevention,  but  now  it  has  been  found  that 
freezing  the  pork  for  20  days  at  a  temperature  of 
live  degrees  destroys  the  parasites. 
