1240 
C/>c  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BVSIKESS  FARMER'S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journul  i'or  Country  and  Sulmrtiaii  Homo* 
Established  fSso 
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Ilr.RntaiT  tv.  (’ot,us..wu<>i\  Preslilfetit  ami  Editor. 
•Ions-  Dtt.ijO.v,  Treasurer  aril  Genrml  Mawun-r. 
W».  F.  Dn.i,oy,  Secretary.  Miift  K.  T.  ROM  r„  l> -ociaf Eilitor. 
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Entered  at  New  York  Post  03C'  as  Second  Class  Matter. 
Advertising  rati's,  75  cents  tier  a  cate  l’ue — T  words.  References  required  for 
advertisers  uiurnuivn  to  us  ;  mni  ca.-n  must  accompany  transient  orders. 
“  A  SQUARE  DEAL” 
Wo  believe  that  every  advertisement,  in  this  paper  i«  barked  by  a  respon¬ 
sible  peinon.  we  nee  every  posalbte  precaution  oral  admit  tin-  advertising  of 
reliable  bouaes  only.  But  to  make  doubly  mure,  we  will  make  Rood  any  Joss 
to  paid  subscriber*  sustained  by  trustintr  any  deliberate  swindler,  it  respon¬ 
sible  ndvcrtt.xetr  or  mlaleaditnr  fidvertifvjni.tita  in  oar  columns,  and  any 
Mich  Bwlndler  will  be  publicly  expired.  We  are  also  often  called  upon 
to  adjust  differences  or  mistakes  between  our  ssubKilbrnt  nnd  honest 
respoitsiblc  houses,  whether  tklvottiteix  or  hot.  VV  wtlhncrly  u-e  our  good 
olhcr.  to  litis  end,  but  KUeh  canes  should  not  be  confused  with  dishonest 
InupvtotiotiH.  Wti  protect  Milisrlheiv  against  rtigui h.  tint  wo  will  not  tie 
responsible  for  the  debts  of  honest  bankrupts  sanctioned  liv  the  courts. 
Notice  of  the  complaint  must  be  sent  to  us  within  one  month  of  the  time  of 
the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it,  you  should  mention  The  Ri’UAL  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
TIIE  misfits  and  the  unknowns  in  you v  orchard! 
You  arc  sure  to  have  some  of  them — trees  bear¬ 
ing  fruit  which  you  cannot  name.  They  should  be 
identified  at  headquarters  Send  fair  samples  of  the 
fruit  to 
The  U.  S.  Pomologisf, 
1  lopartment  of  Agriculture 
Washington,  1).  C. 
In  former  years  franked  boxes  were  sent  so  these 
samples  would  go  freely  through  the  mail.  A  new 
rule  prohibits  this  free  direct  shipment,  but  if  you 
will  notify  your  county  agent  he  can  send  the  fruit 
without  postage  cost 
* 
HERE  is  a  situation  calculated  to  puzzle  the 
brain  and  gall  the  soul  of  a  farmer.  He  drove 
to  the  public  market  in  a  certain  town  with  vege¬ 
tables  and  fruit  for  sale.  A  girl  passed  his  stand, 
went  to  a  groceiy  store  and  bought  two  cans  of  to¬ 
matoes  and  carried  them  home.  For  the  price  of 
these  two  cans  this  farmer  was  ready  to  sell  a  large 
basket  of  fresh  and  sound  tomatoes — right  from  the 
vine.  Now  that  farmer  is  trying  to  understand  what 
they  mean  by  "high  cost  of  living.”  He  sees  that 
the  biggest  asset  of  the  middlemen  is  just  that 
quality  in  the  consumer  which  sent  the  girl  after 
the  canned  goods. 
* 
SOME  years  ago  the  agricultural  colleges  began 
to  teach  stock  judging  as  a  part  of  farm  educa¬ 
tion.  There  was  more  or  less  protest  and  ridicule, 
because  many  farmers  could  not  see  the  use  of  such 
study.  At  the  start  it  was  very  hard  to  obtain  the 
money  needed  for  organizing  this  study.  This  work 
has  spread  until  correct  judging  is  now  a  part  of 
every  farmers’  exhibition  or  meeting.  Wherever 
you  go  you  will  find  farmers  comparing  stock  or 
grain  or  fruit  by  some  recognized  standard.  It  has 
had  a  good  influence  wherever  it  is  tried,  because  it 
trains  the  eye  and  hand  to  select  the  best  type  of 
animal,  and  in  every  neighborhood  where  men  and 
hoys  become  interested  in  "stock  judging”  you  will 
And  improved  livestock. 
* 
I  am  enclosing  an  article  clipped  from  the  Earlville, 
(N.  Y.),  iStandard,  dated  Aug.  24.  It  shows  the  spirit 
among  our  business  men  in  backing  the  dairymen  in 
our  section,  both  personally  aud  financially,  for  these 
men  realize  that  their  prosperity  depends  upon  the 
prosperity  of  the  farmers,  aud  that  the  farmers  are  be¬ 
ing  pinched  down  to  where  they  have  to  make  a  dollar 
go  so  far  they  could  no  longer  consider  quality,  but 
must  spend  it  for  quantity.  This  is  why  some  of  their 
money  was  going  to  the  mail  order  houses.  These 
business  men  did  not  print  long  pieces  in  the  papers 
condemning  these  farmers  as  s'-me  business  men  do. 
Instead  they  eame  out  voluntarily  and  have  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel  to  help  these  dairymen  in  their  ef¬ 
forts  to  secure  a  living  price  for  their  milk.  The 
members  of  this  league  deeply  appreciate  the  coopera¬ 
tion  of  these  business  men.  They  realize  there  has  not 
beeu  enough  of  the  spirit  of  “get  together  and  get  ac¬ 
quainted”  between  the  farmer  and  the  business  men  iu 
ihe  past.  Surrounding  towns  are  taking  up  the  same 
plan  and  it  will  no  doubt  be  a  great  help  to  the  Dairy¬ 
men’s  League  in  winning  its  purpose. 
T.  W.  BILLINGS. 
Sec.  Local  Branch  Dairymen’s  League. 
THE  article  states  that  these  business  men  are 
raising  $500  to  be  used  by  the  local  branch  of 
the  Dairymen’s  League  iu  organizing  and  working 
for  better  milk  prices.  The  local  bank  started  with 
$100.  A  good  move.  Mr.  Billings  is  right  in  saying 
TTRlt  the  farmers  and  business  men  ought  to  work 
together.  The  country  town  cannot  possibly  live 
without  the  farmers.  It  is-  like  a  pond  or  lake  fed 
by  brooks  and  streams  which  run  down  from  the 
hills.  Let  these  streams  fail  and  the  lake  will  iu 
time  dry  up.  Let  the  farmers  prosper  and  the  local 
town  will  quickly  feet  it.  When  only  the  35-cent 
dollar  comes  hack  from  the  big  market  you  have  a 
30-cent  town.  A  50-cent  dollar  puts  paint  and  pros¬ 
perity  all  over  the  village.  We  have  never  been  able 
to  understand  why  the  business  men  of  a  country 
town  are  so  often  on  the  side  of  the  big  middlemen 
and  transportation  interests,  and  against  the  farm¬ 
ers.  If  they  were  wise  they  would  see  that  the 
very  life  of  their  town  depends  upon  the  surround¬ 
ing  country  which  feeds  into  the  village,  aud  farm¬ 
ers  may  well  hack  up  the  local  paper  and  make  it 
serve  their  interests.  The  great  need  iu  every  milk 
country  town  is  a  plant  for  handling  and  pasteur¬ 
izing  milk.  It  should  be  truly  cooperative  and 
owned  and  managed  so  that  the  milk  tmst  can  never 
control  it.  These  buildings  for  handling  milk  will 
lie  necessary  if  farmers  are  to  cut  out  the  middle¬ 
men  and  sell  milk  direct.  Let.  these  business  men 
work  to  establish  such  milk  plants,  where  farmers 
can  do  the  work  now  being  done  by  the  dealers. 
* 
DFRTXG  the  past  few  weeks  the  Now  York  pa¬ 
pers  have  carried  big  advertisements  of  the 
Borden  s  Milk  Company.  At  least  $50,000  must  have 
been  spent  in  this  way  in  an  effort  to  show  the  con¬ 
sumers  how  much  it  costs  to  distribute  milk.  There 
is  another  side  to  this  which  the  public  does  not  real¬ 
ize.  We  have  the  following  statement  about  the 
Borden’s  business : 
BORDEN’S  CONDENSED  MILK.  C'O. 
Incorporated  in  N.  J.  1899,  succeeding  the  New  York 
Condensed  Milk  Co. 
Capital :  Authorized  $7,500,000  (S'fr  Cumulative  Pre¬ 
ferred.  all  issued.  Authorized  $22,500,000  Common, 
$21,282,000  issued. 
Dividends:  On  the  Preferred  6 %  to  date. 
On  the  Common  regular  dividends  at  8%  since  1002. 
and  extra  dividend  of  2r4  in  1005  and  1008  and  of 
1V>%  in  1904. 
Earnings  statement  is  refused  commercial  agencies, 
'I’lte  Preferred  lias  sold  during  last  12  years  from 
103  to  113,  and  the  Common  from  112  to  180  (extra 
dividend  years).  Present  market  on  the  Common  113. 
Now  of  course  this  common  stock  is  pure  water. 
It  just  represents  "good  will”  and  it  is  quite  doubt¬ 
ful  if  more  than  half  the  preferred  stock  was  ever 
actually  paid  for  in  money.  The  dividends  on  this 
common  stock  at  S'/a  would  amount  to  $1,800,000 
each  year,  or  -the  price  of  about  50,000,000  quarts 
of  milk  at  the  average  price.  Farmers  were  obliged 
to  contribute  this  flood  of  milk — the  contribution  of 
over  10,000  cows — to  pay  these  dividends.  The  con¬ 
sumers  contributed  that  tidy  sum  of  nearly  two  mil¬ 
lions  as  a  new  way  of  raising  cream  out  of  water. 
That  is  where  one  big  slice  of  ihe  consumer’s  money 
goes  to.  It  would  add  one  cent  a  quart  to  the  price 
of  180,000,000  quarts  of  milk.  The  Bordens  take 
pride  iu  the  fact  that  they  compel  the  farmers  to 
keep  up  the  per  cent,  of  fat  in  their  milk.  If  the 
test  should  show  too  much  water  the  farmer  would 
be  quickly  brought  to  time  or  his  milk  would  be 
rejected.  Now  we  want  both  farmer  and  consumer 
to  understand  about  this  watered  dollar.  Why 
should  the  farmer  milk  all  these  cows  and  the  con¬ 
sumer  pay  all  this  money  in  order  that  "good  will” 
may  draw  big  dividends?  That  is  the  sort  of  “good 
will”  which  makes  no  peace  on  earth. 
:  * 
WELL,  one  thing  at  least  is  sure.  We  are  get¬ 
ting  them  out  in  the  open  where  they  must 
stand  up  and  face  the  music.  First  comes  the  Betail 
Grain  Dealers’  Association.  Read  about  them  on 
page  124(5.  These  500  men  undertake  to  say 
that  150,000  farmers  shall  not  be  free  to  buy  grain 
unless  thru  have  a  hand  in  the  hag.  They  say  the 
Foods  and  Markets  Department  is  "a  step  toward 
socialism ”  and  must  be  killed.  Then,  right  in  line 
comes  the  commission  trade.  They  are  made  bold 
by  desperation.  The  Fruit  Trade  Journal  thus 
speaks  for  them: 
But  the  fact  remains  that  receivers  of  and  dealers  in 
farm  products  also  have  votes,  and  if  ever  there  was  a 
time  in  which  they  should  show  their  strength,  solid¬ 
arity  and  influence,  it  is  now,  for  the  only  thing  thut 
has  saved  the  trade  from  chaos  during  the  Dillon  re¬ 
gime  is  the  small  appropriation  which  the  8tato  Legis¬ 
lature  gave  the  head  of  the  New  York  State  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Foods  itnd  Markets. 
As  is  the  case  with  the  grain  dealers,  the  com¬ 
mission  men,  few  in  number,  will  not,  if  they  can 
help  it,  permit,  a  basket  or  barrel  or  bag  of  produce 
to  be  sold  unless  they  can  finger  the  goods!  The 
majority  of  these  men  are  not  voters  in  New  York, 
and  pay  no  tax  worth  mentioning  here,  but  they 
will  fight  like  tigers  to  keep  up  a  discredited  sys¬ 
tem  which  they  know  they  cannot  defend ! 
Now  the  point  is  that  they  all  recognize  the 
Foods  and  Markets  Department  as  the  most  effective 
public  weapon  against  graft  and  trade  robbery  that 
lias  yet  been  put  up  to  them.  They  do  not  enro 
<r  mi  - 
for  education  or  harmless  talk  about  the  principle 
of  cooperation.  In  fact  they  have  welcomed  such 
things  for  years,  since  farmers  have  not  been  able  to 
make,  through  them,  a  definite,  concrete  public  is¬ 
sue  against  trade  graft.  The  Foods  and  Markets 
Department  comes  at  them  like  the  point  of  a  pitch- 
fork,  and  they  realize  at  last  that  unless  this  is 
killed  off  they  are  up  against  the  real  thing.  Thus 
every  grafter  and  crook  iu  the  trade  will  fight  the 
September  23,  1910. 
Department  to  the  death.  The  honest  men  in  the 
trade  will  be  obliged  to  follow  in  silence,  for  they 
know  that  in  spite  of  their  personal  honesty  the 
system  is  essentially  dishonest.  We  want  every 
farmer  to  see  this  point  clearly.  The  fight  over  the 
Department  has  made  the  issue  clear,  and  it  cannot 
he  avoided  Therefore  we  intend  to  make  every 
candidate  who  would  have  anything  to  do  with  farm 
legislation  next  Winter  stand  up  and  show  himself 
or  dodge.  Never  before  in  New  York  State  has  this 
marketing  question  been  brought  down  to  a  clear, 
vital  issue,  and  we  will  give  every  farmer  a  chance 
to  use  his  ballot  as  lie  would  a  hoe. 
$ 
DR.  J.  G.  LIPMAN,  of  the  New  Jersey  Experi¬ 
ment  Station,  has  conducted  some  experiments 
with  sulphur  and  phosphate  rock  which  promise 
great  things  for  farming.  As  most  farmers  know, 
the  difference  between  superphosphate  and  raw  phos¬ 
phate  rock  is  that  the  latter  is  "cut”  or  treated  with 
sulphuric  acid.  This  makes  the  phosphorus  avail¬ 
able  for  feeding  plants,  and  that  is  why  on  most 
Eastern  farms  the  more  expensive  acid  phosphate  is 
found  economical.  Now  Dr.  Lipiuau  has  found  that 
when  sulphur  is  put  into  soils  which  contain  certain 
bacteria  it  is  readily  oxidized,  and  may  thus  result 
in  the  formation  of  sulphuric  acid  right  in  the  soil. 
When  the  raw  phosphate,  finely  ground,  is  mixed 
in  the  soil  containing  this  oxidized  sulphur,  it  is 
acted  upon  by  the  sulphuric  acid  thus  formed,  and 
true  acid  phosphate  results.  Thus  we  make  a  com¬ 
post  of  manure  and  muck  or  peat  and  add  sulphur 
and  ground  phosphates.  The  bacteria  work  on  the 
sulphur  and  iu  the  course  of  three  or  four  months 
we  have  in  the  compost  a  supply  of  available  phos¬ 
phoric  acid — the  same  as  if  the  commercial  acid 
were  used!  This  is  just  what  Dr.  Llprnan  has  done 
in  a  small  way  by  mixing  the  sulphur  and  phos¬ 
phate  in  three  different  kinds  of  soil.  When  the  de¬ 
tails  of  this  are  worked  out,  as  we  believe  they  will 
be,  we  shall  have  in  the  farm  compost  heap  a  gen¬ 
uine  factory,  doing,  at  moderate  cost,  one  of  the  most 
expensive  operations  found  in  the  manufacture  of 
chemical  fertilizers.  It  has  been  claimed  that  the 
phosphate  rock  is  made  available  by  simply  mixing 
with  manure  or  plowing  under  with  green  crops. 
No  one  has  ever  been  able  to  show  how  this  is  done, 
if  it  be  done  at  all,  but  it  is  easy  to  understand  the 
action  of  the  sulphur  through  this  simple  process  of 
changing  into  sulphuric  acid. 
* 
WE  can-  all  remember  what  an  outcry  there 
was  a  few  years  ago  against  primary  elec¬ 
tions  in  place  of  the  old  caucus  and  convention. 
We  hear  little  of  that  now.  It  is  not  likely  that  any 
State  which  has  changed  over  to  the  primary  could 
ever  be  induced  to  go  back  to  the  old  system.  Iu 
some  of  the  States  the  primary  is  not  what  it  should 
be,  but  it  is  always  a  step  toward  a  fairer  chance 
in  selecting  candidates.  In  New  Jersey  the  im¬ 
provement  is  striking.  There  never  was  a  time 
when  the  people  of  New  Jersey  so  thoroughly  under¬ 
stood  the  character  and  worth  of  State  and  local 
candidates  as  they  do  this  year.  There  never  was  a 
time  when  these  candidates  understood  so  thorough¬ 
ly  just  what  the  people  want,  or  understood  so  well 
what  will  happen  to  them  if  they  do  not  walk 
straight. 
Brevities 
We  want  to  know  bow  cement  drain  tile  compares 
with  clay  in  cost,  and  durability. 
What  about  this  scheme  for  retail  milk  distribution 
dreamed  of  by  Mttpes  on  the  first  page? 
Last  year  the  briekmukers  in  the  lower  Hudson 
Valley  made  060,5117,000  bricks  valued  at  $5,009,065. 
Keeping  cider  sweet !  The  best  way  is  to  treat  it 
like  canned  goods — heat  and  seal  bottle  airtight  while 
hot.  , 
Now  we  have  the  horseless  circus  parade — auto 
trucks  doing  the  work  formerly  done  by  the  famous 
calico  horses. 
If  we  bad  a  quantity  of  wood  ashes  we  would  keep 
them  in  a  dry  place  over  Winter  aud  use  on  corn  or 
garden  crops. 
There  is  the  story  of  the  Scotchman  who  listened  to 
what  he  thought,  a  foolish  argument.  To  the  speaker 
he  said :  “Ye  have  a  cold  in  your  head !  The  cold  al¬ 
ways  attacks  the  weakest  place  first.” 
The  West  Virginia  Experiment  Station  at  Morgan¬ 
town  sends  purebred  cockerels  of  Leghorn,  P.  Rock 
aud  R.  I.  Rial  to  puullrymen  in  the  State  who  will 
pay  50  cents  ior  each  bird  and  keep  no  other  breed  for 
two  years.  . 
Farmers’  Bulletin  No.  745,  issued  by  the  TT.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture,  is  entitled  "Waste  Laud 
and  Wasted  Laud  on  Farms.”  It  gives  suggestions  for 
bringing  back  neglected  areas  for  tillage,  pasture  or 
forestry. 
Among  Farmers’  Bulletins  issued  by  the  TJ.  S  De¬ 
partment  of  Agriculture  arc  a  number  on  forestry,  that 
would  prove  highly  instructive  for  Winter  reading. 
Bulletins  173  aiui  358,  "A  Printer  of  Forestry,”  Part  I 
and  Part  II,  will  give  a  helpful  start, 
