946 
Gfce  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
July  1,  191G. 
PUBLISHER’S  DESK 
The  Whiting  Nursery  of  Geneva,  N. 
Y.,  is  working  this  section,  selling  new 
varieties  of  Japanese  plums  and  peaches. 
Tie  says  the  plums  are  eureulio  proof; 
the  plums  have  such  a  tough  skin  and 
grow  SO  fast  that  it  squashes  the  eureulio 
eggs.  Thanks  to  Tmc  R.  N.-Y.  I  did 
not  bite,  nor  some  of  my  neighbors  that 
take  The  It.  N.-Y.  i  must,  say  that  The 
It.  N.-Y.  has  saved  me  many  u  dollar. 
New  York-  J.  F.  K. 
The  above  letter  indicates  that  our  old 
friend  Whiting  is  again  active,  and 
handing  out  the  same  sort  of  nursery 
stock  bait  with  which  he  lias  deceived 
country  people  in  the  past.  Our  readers 
are  so  well  advised  regarding  Whiting’s 
methods  that  they  are.  not  likely  to  fall 
victims  to  his  gracious  manners  and  ridic¬ 
ulous  claims  for  liis  stock.  The  plum 
trees  and  peach  trees  sold  by  Whiting  we 
believe  are  no  better  or  no  worse  than 
those  sold  by  other  nursery -agent  houses. 
It  is  our  information  that  Whiting  buys 
the  principal  part  of  his  stock  from  other 
growers.  It  is  on  the  Strength  of  such 
ridiculous  claims  as  reported  in  the 
above  letter  that  Whiting  relies  to  secure 
orders  for  stock  at  prices  four  or  five 
times  greater  than  first-class  stock  can 
be  purchased  for  from  the  most  reliable 
growers  of  nursery  stock  in  the  country. 
Whiting  is  known  as  the  king  of  the  class 
of  nursery  agents  that  secure  orders 
through  this  sort  of  misrepresentations. 
If  any  of  our  subscribers  can  get  Whit¬ 
ing  on  record  in  writing  making  false 
claims  for  his  stock,  we  believe  be  can  be 
successfully  prosecuted  for  selling  the 
trees  under  fraudulent  misrepresenta¬ 
tions. 
I  sent  to  Lee  Todd,  211%  No.  Sixth 
street,  Richmond,  Ya.,  in  March,  for  a 
girl  to  do  general  housework.  I  sent  a 
money  order  for  $16,  which  represented 
bis  charges.  lie  acknowledged  receiving 
the  order  and  has  written  throe  or  four 
times,  giving  excuses  for  not  sending  the 
girl.  I  have  written  twice  asking  him  to 
return  my  money  if  he  could  not  send  me 
a  girl  at  once.  The  last  letter  he  has  not 
answered.  If  you  can  help  me  iu  any 
way  to  get  my  money  back  will  you  please 
do  so?  I  know  of  another  party  he  has 
served  in  the  same  way.  They  sent  more 
than  a  year  ago.  II.  L. 
New  York. 
For  the  last  five  years  we  have  had 
complaints  against  Mr.  Todd  exactly 
similar  to  the  above.  He  gets  the  money 
and  that  is  the  end  of  it  as  far  as  help 
goes.  He  is  rather  prolific  in  excuses, 
and  his  replies  to  our  letters  are  rather 
contemptuous,  referring  us  to  his  lawyers. 
Richmond  is  greatly  in  need  of  a  license 
bureau  such  as  we  have  in  New  York, 
but  the  only  safe  way  is  to  refrain  from 
sending  Mr.  Todd  any  remittance  for 
help. 
In  May  20th  issue  our  subscriber  “C. 
J.  C."  refers  to  the  American  Bee  Jour¬ 
nal  as  carrying  the  advertising  of  H,  L. 
Barber  of  Chicago,  III.  Barber  &  Co. 
are  such  notorious  venders  of  stock  of 
questionable  value  that  we  concluded  this 
publication  had  little  regard  for  the  wel¬ 
fare  or  interest  of  its  subscribers.  We 
learn,  however,  that  the  publishing  of  the 
Barber  &  Co,  advertisement  was  due  to 
a  misapprehension,  and  it  was  promptly 
discontinued  when  the  nature  of  the  busi¬ 
ness  carried  on  by  the  concern  was  dis¬ 
covered.  The  clean  advertising  columns 
maintained  by  this  publication  generally 
are  sufficient  to  convince  us  that  the 
above  explanation  is  made  in  good  faith. 
We  have  no  disposition  to  criticise  any 
publication  which  is  making  an  earnest 
and  honest  effort  to  keep  out  all  objec¬ 
tionable  or  dishonest  advertising,  and  we 
want  to  acknowledge  that  the  criticism 
on  account  of  having  carried  II.  L.  Bar¬ 
ber’s  advertising  is  not  warranted  by  the 
class  of  advertising  carried  by  the  publi¬ 
cation  generally. 
Can  you  tell  me  if  W.  Ilillyer  Rags¬ 
dale  of  East  Orange,  N.  ,T.,  who  offers  a 
course  in  “Specialty  Candy  Making,”  by 
mail,  with  outfit  for  ,$20,  is  O.  K.  or  if 
he  is  a  fake  looking  for  easy  money?  He 
has  some  well-written  literature,  and  says 
there  is  good  money  in  the  business. 
Some  friends  of  mine  are  very  much  in¬ 
terested.  A.  N. 
Rhode  Island. 
This  scheme  of  Mr-  Ragsdale  to  start 
other  people  on  the  road  to  easy  wealth 
by  selling  them  an  outfit  and  instruc¬ 
tions  for  candy-making  has  been  carried 
on  by  him  for  some  time.  If  the  busi¬ 
ness  is  so  profitable  as  Mr.  Ragsdale  rep¬ 
resents  it.  to  be,  the  question  arises  in  our 
mind,  why  he  does  not  make  a  fortune  in 
the  candy  business  himself,  instead  of 
trying  to  make  a  living  showing  others? 
The  scheme  is  very  much  on  a  par  with 
the  proposition  to  teach  the  mail-order 
business  and  other  lines  of  business  by 
mail,  and  has  many  elements  of  a  fake 
about  it.  People  who  are  not  experienced 
with  candy  making  and  the  selling  of 
candy  are  more  than  likely  to  make  a 
failure  of  it  if  they  attempt  going  into 
the  business  on  the  strength  of  whatever 
instructions  Mr.  Ragsdale  may  be  able  to 
give  by  mail.  He  evidently  is  not  so 
much  concerned  about  this  so  long  as  he 
gets  the  $20. 
He  Changed  His  Mind 
About  three  months  ago  my  wife  re¬ 
ceived  through  the  mail  a  package  of 
needles  and  thimbles  from  the  Keystone 
Gift  Co.  of  Greenville,  Pa.,  and  a  request 
from  them  that  she  sell  them  to  her 
friends  and  return  the  money,  $1.50,  and 
they  would  send  her  a  talking  machine 
for  her  trouble.  She  did  not  order  them 
or  know  anything  about  their  coming.  A 
little  later  she  received  a  bundle  of  pic¬ 
tures  to  sell  from  a  Western  magazine 
company  publishing  a  paper  called 
“Everyday  Life,”  to  sell  under  the  same 
conditions,  except  they  do  not  tell  what 
their  prize  will  he.  She  laid  them  away, 
as  she  did  not  care  to  sell  them.  Now 
they  are  sending  her  threatening  letters 
about  them.  They  did  not  send  any  post¬ 
age  for  return.  Please  advise  us  what 
to  do.  Should  I  write  the  Postmaster 
General  at  Washington  about  them,  or 
has  he  not  the  power  to  stop  such  nui¬ 
sance?  About  a  year  ago  I  received  a 
razor  to  try.  and  if  it  soiled  I  could  send 
them  $2  for  it.  I  sent  it  hack.  We  do 
not  wish  to  be  bothered  with  such  con¬ 
cerns.  S.  J*  M. 
New  York. 
Evidently  this  subscriber’s  name,  per¬ 
haps  through  no  fault  of  his  own,  has 
gotten  on  some  sucker  list  and  is  being 
peddled  around  to  concerns  doing  busi¬ 
ness  on  the  basis  described  in  the  above 
letter.  The  post  office  regulations  do  not 
seem  to  prevent  this  sort  of  nefarious 
work,  and  the  only  way  we  see  to  stop  it 
is  to  make  it  so  expensive  that  the  houses 
resorting  to  these  methods  to  dispose  of 
their  products  will  find  it  unprofitable. 
With  this  view  our  advice  to  subscribers 
is  not  to  return  goods  sent  in  this  way, 
but  to  notify  the  concern  sending  them 
to  come  and  take  the  goods  away.  There 
is  no  reason  why  country  people  should 
go  to  the  expense  of  paying  return  post¬ 
age,  or  even  going  to  the  trouble  of  taking 
the  package  to  the  postoffice,  provided 
postage  is  not  sent.  Farmers  need  have 
no  concern  that  fakers  of  this  kind  will 
go  to  court  to  collect  a  claim  because  of 
goods  sent  in  this  way.  Such  methods 
have  no  standing  in  the  courts  or  with  , 
honorable  business  people. 
^  A  BOUT  two  years  ago,”  said  one  160-acre 
***•  farmer,  “  while  I  did  not  think  I  really 
needed  an  engine,  I  bought  a  Titan  engine  because  of 
what  some  of  my  neighbors  said.  At  the  time,  I  thought 
I  was  extravagant. 
“But  now,  after  I’ve  used  it  a  couple  of  years,  I'm  glad  that 
I  woke  up  finally  to  the  value  of  engine  power  in  handling  the 
small  jobs  about  my  place,  especially  the  summer  work,  such  as 
pumping,  grinding,  tool  repairing,  and  running  small  machines. 
When  a' small  engine  takes  so  many  mean,  tiresome  little  jobs  off 
a  larmier’s  hands,  the  extravagance  consists  iu  going  without  an 
engine.” 
International  Harvester  Mogul  and  Titan  engines  are  of  all 
styles,  all  sizes  from  1  to  50-horse  power,  for  all  purposes.  There 
are  no  better  engines  made,  none  more  economical  to  run,  or  that 
furnish  steadier,  more  dependable  power.  You  cannot  go  wrong 
in  your  choice  of  an  engine  if  you  buy  a  Mogul  or  Titan.  The 
local  dealers  who  handle  these  engines  can  prove  these  state¬ 
ments,  and  show  you  the  engines.  Bee  them,  or  write  us  for  a 
catalogue. 
International  Harvester  Company  of  America. 
(Incorporated)  fff 
A)  CHICAGO  USA  (f| 
v/  Champion  Leering  McCormick  Milwaukee  Osborne  Plano 
CIDER  Making  Pays 
With  Mt.  Gilead  Hydraulic  Cider  Presses 
Thousands  arc  making  Big  Mon*-y 
with  our  — why  nut.  you? 
Huii'm  tl)  to  4  00  bhls,  daily;  hand  Slaim 
or  power.  Cider  evaporators,  / 
Dr.  Cyril  G.  Hopkins’ 
reply  to  Prof.  Brooks 
and  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker.  You  have  read 
a  great  deal  on  one  side 
of  this  question — write 
for  Bulletin  186  “Phos¬ 
phates  and  Honesty,” 
and  get  the  whole  dis¬ 
cussion. 
apple-butter  cookers,  vinegar 
filters,  etc. 
generators,  _r 
Fully  guaranteed.  AH  power 
presses  have  steel  beams 
and  sills.  Catalog  Free.  ®  yTYSo  —  Sr'-53 
ICY  l)K APEIO  I'KEKS  MFC.  CO.  dWfSr 
137  .Lincoln  Av«-.  Mount  Gilead,  O.  nil 
Or  Room  119  L  Cortlandt  St..  Ni  w  York.  N.  Y. 
WELL  dr£ly'sng  WELL 
Own  a  machine  of  yonr  own.  Cash  or  easy 
terms.  .Many  styles  and  sir.es  for  all  purposes. 
Write  for  Circular 
WILLIAMS  BROS..  432  W.  State  St.,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
A  description  of  the 
Permanent  Fertility 
Method  that  supplies 
Phosphorus  at  a  cost  of 
$1.00  per  acre  per  year. 
Write  us  for  free  copies 
of  these  booklets. 
T  am  sending  yon  an  advertisement  of 
Story  Revision  Go.,  Auburn,  N.  Y., 
which  appeared  in  McCall's  Magazine. 
As  I  have  quite  a  talent  for  story  writ¬ 
ing  would  like  to  try  it.  1  sent  them  a 
story  and  they  wrote  baek  that  it  was 
fine  and  would  command  a  good  price, 
but  it  would  cost  me  $3.75  to  have  it  re¬ 
vised.  Do  you  know  if  they  are  reliable 
and  would  have  sold  it  for  me?  I  did  not 
send  the  money.  MRS.  M. 
New  York. 
The  Story  Revision  Co.  state  in  the 
advertisement  that  they  will  criticise 
stories  sent  them  free  and  “sell  on  com¬ 
mission-”  But  when  this  woman  sends 
her  story  they  ask  for  $3.75  for  revision. 
The  scheme  is  apparently  similar  to  that 
employed  by  the  so-called  music  publish¬ 
ing  houses,  a  number  of  which  were 
barred  from  the  mails  as  fraudulent.  It 
is  difficult  to  prove  the  direct  fraud  in 
“easy  money”  schemes  of  this  kind.  As  a 
1‘Ule  parties  advertising  in  this  way  have 
no  facilities  for  selling  the  writings  of 
authors,  hut  always  present  some  plausi¬ 
ble  pretext  for  asking  that  money  be  sent 
iu  advance.  Its  the  old  Ostrander  listing 
fee  real  estate  scheme  applied  to  the  va¬ 
rious  selling  problems. 
K-JLidP3'?;  .  Over  25.000.009  rods  Brown 
3,  J  Fence  already  Bold  to  400,000 
#  1  farmers.  Factory  PriccB, 
lag.'  Freight  Prepaid.  1 60  style*, 
13o  per  rod  up.  Gates  and 
Steel  Posts,  tool  Write  postal. 
THE  BROWN  FENCE  &  WIRE -'CO. 
,59  ■  •  •  Cleveland,  Ohio 
FEDERAL  CHEMICAL  CO. 
No.  12  High  St.,  Columbia,  Tenn, 
Gel  our  prices  before  selling.  Write  us,  slating  the 
quantity  you  have,  with  the  grade,  and  we  will  quole 
you  price  delivered  on  cars  your  shipping  point. 
H.  A.  PERKINS  &  CO.,  Wool  Merchants 
8  Railroad  Row,  White  River  Junction,  Vt. 
HAY  CAPS 
Stack,  wagon  and  implement,  covers: 
waterproof  or  plain  canvas.  Plant  bed 
cloth,  tents,  etc.  Circulars,  samples. 
HENRY  DERBY 
453  Y,  St.  Paul's  Ave.f  Jersey  City,  N.  J 
Free  Box  of  Samples 
sent  to  your  station  charges  prepaid 
Delivered  prices  quoted  on  request 
All  sizes,  2  inches  to  20  inches. 
THE  E.  BIGLOW  CO.,  New  London,  0. 
”  machine  will  reduce  big  UmerocK  m 
at  the  rate  of  1  ton  an  hour,  or  more,  depr 
ing  upon  what  *1*  el  nwch.ne  you  buy 
the  In,!  af  power  ofvout  W*  [ocli 
put  worth  Irom  820  to  SW.  _ 
road  and  concrete  work-portable 
cuaraniee—  built  to  last  a  lifetime.  .  y  ' 
«»Uig— lull  information  and  nor  mal  ode 
THE  JEFFREY  MFC.  CO 
265  First  Avenue 
Outlaw  of  Note 
If  uo  interest  is  paid  on  a  note,  how 
many  years  can  the  note  run  before  it  is 
outlawed?  MRS.  E.  c. 
New  York. 
Six  yours  unless  a  written  promise  to 
pay  has  been  made  in  the  meantime,  or 
the  maker  of  the  note  has  been  out  of  the 
State  so  he  could  not  be  sued 
When  you  write  advertisers  mention 
The  Rural  New-Yorker  and  you’ll  set 
a  quick  reply  and  a  “ square  deal .“  See 
guarantee  editorial  page. 
COLUMBUS, 
JL 
put 
TS 
