222 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 21 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE B US1NE88 FARMER'8 PAPER. 
A N«tion«l Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homea, 
EstablUhed 1850. 
HKKBEUT W. COLLINGWOOD, Editor. 
JoHX J. Dillon, Business Mananer. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries In the Universal Postal Union, U.04, 
equal to Ss. 6d., or 814 marks, or 10V4 francs. 
“A SaUARE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement In this paper !■ 
backed by a responsible person. But to make doubly 
sure we will make good any loss to paid subscribers 
sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler advertising 
in our columns, and any such swindler will be publicly 
exposed. We protect subscribers against rogues, hut we 
do not guarantee to adjust trifling differences between 
■ubscribera and honest responsible advertisers. Neither 
will we be responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts 
sanctioned by the courts. Notice of the complaint must 
be sent to us^ within one month of the time of the trans¬ 
action and you must have mentioned The Rural New- 
ToRKER when writing the advertiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance 
Is for, should appear In every letter. 
Remittances may be made in money order, express 
erder, personal check or bank draft 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1903. 
The recent estimate of the cost of preparing an acre 
of strawberries ready for picking has stirred up so 
much comment that we now expect to print figures 
showing what these acres produce and what hand 
work must be done. It appears that any man who 
intends to get all there is out of an acre of straw¬ 
berries has no business to “count the cost!” 
• 
Niew Hampshire voters rejected the proposed wo¬ 
man’s suffrage amendment by a large majority. Our 
reports from prominent Grangers indicated just this 
result. It is not likely that any of the older States 
will grant women the full right to vote until they 
make a general demand for that right. Our Grange 
reports from New York State indicated a desire on the 
part of the farmers for an increase of liquor licenses 
under the Raines law and a better enforcement. The 
Legislature is now considering the increase—but how 
about the enforcement? 
At a meeting of farmers in a western State a young 
lawyer took part in the discussions. He was a clean, 
bright man, evidently popular with the people. “We 
are going to send him to the Legislature some day,” 
said a prosperous and well-to-do farmer. The senti¬ 
ment was applauded, yet if some one had suggested 
sending the farmer to the Legislature there would 
have been no response. Yet the farmer knew the 
needs of his fellows better than the lawyer did, and 
he was a man of strong character and ability. No one 
thought of him as a suitable representative, because 
it has become a habit to send lawyers to tinker our 
laws for us. That is one of the habits which farmers 
should try to break off. 
m 
A NEW nursery rogue has turned up in Iowa. 1 his 
one is selling a new variety of apple—which has 
neither seed nor core! This agent has made a solemn 
agreement not to sell more than two trees to any one 
buyer—at ?6 per tree. Is it possible that anyone is 
foolish enough to pay ?6 on the strength of any such 
story? Apparently so! A man might offer to sell fine 
specimens of standard varieties at 15 cents and find 
few buyers, when this rogue agent would reap a har¬ 
vest. There are unhappily men in this world foolish 
enough to raise $12 for these two trees and then mean 
enough to take this money from what the wife and 
children ought to have! Of course no such men are 
to be found among the subscribers of The R. N.-Y! 
* 
A SWINDLE reported from Ohio is worked by alleged 
agents who offer to illuminate farms with electric 
light. The usual agreeable agent calls on an unsus¬ 
pecting farmer, displaying as sample an acetylene 
lamp, which he calls electric. The farmer is told that 
he can have his whole farm illuminated for $2 a light, 
a dynamo being furnished that will provide power for 
20 years. The farmer signs the contract, which is 
sealed up and left in his charge until the second agent 
appears to carry out the bargain. When the contract 
is opened it calls for 14 lights at $64 apiece, making a 
bill of $896. Of course the second agent is greatly sur¬ 
prised and pained to learn that his fellow-worker has 
misrepresented the price, but as the contract is sign¬ 
ed he is obliged to carry it out. Finally he arranges a 
compromise, and generously consents to take the 
farmer’s note for $200 to release him from the con¬ 
tract. This is, of course, merely an old foe with a 
new face. We are glad to know that the character of 
the swindle was very quickly recognized, and we un¬ 
derstand that some farmers who were taken in by it 
at first refused to meet the notes extorted from them. 
In the meantime anyone desiring to illuminate a farm 
would do well to get lighting estimates from reliable 
advertisers, with a rigid determination to abstain 
from signing contracts with strangers. In such cases 
the farmer may be entertaining angels unawares, but 
the chances are against it. 
On a large steamboat recently we saw a printed cir¬ 
cular detailing the duty of officers and crew in case of 
fire. Each officer was assigned to a certain part of the 
boat, and his duties were clearly indicated. Even the 
barkeeper was mentioned with the following order: 
"Destroy all liquors if the fire is .serious." Clearly 
that was the best service any barkeeper could render 
—to put his rum out of the reach of anyone who 
might add the curse of drunkenness to the horrors of 
fire at sea. The only fault we find with that order is 
that it doesn’t begin the destruction early enough. We 
would destroy the liquor before it ever came on board! 
• 
The Grape Belt has the following chunk of wisdom: 
Fanners need simply to do their own thinking, and 
when a union or combine Is absolutely needed, make it 
without any outside help. In the end it will come to 
that because it has got to. 
Farmers have always done most of their own 
thinking on the things which directly affect them— 
those which they touch with their own hands. They 
have left too many of the public matters which in¬ 
directly affect them to politicians and party men. 
Time after time it has happened that good men whose 
interests lie in uniting their forces have been kept 
apart by politicians. Slowly but surely the farmers 
are learning their real power. Some of their efforts 
to “get together” end in failure, and their enemies 
chuckle and sneer at it. We see a germ of hope in 
every such honest failure, because we know the 
patient, enduring character of the American farmer. 
His growth into his full power will be slow, but it is 
surely coming. It is well for the country that it is 
slow, for the farmer is the only real conservative 
factor left in American society. 
• 
Now we learn of an effort to form a ginseng trust— 
that is, an attempt to combine all the growers of 
plants and seeds so as to keep up the price! It is not 
likely to succeed, still the fact that at last there is 
enough in ginseng culture to attract the trust nurses 
is worthy of comment. We well remember when the 
dealers and scientific men alike declared that ginseng 
could not be grown as a cultivated crop. We were 
told that it was a wild plant that could not be tamed. 
Our old friend George Stanton knew better. He 
studied the habits of the plant and succeeded in grow¬ 
ing it. To him more than anyone else is due the pres¬ 
ent ginseng boom. Mr. Stanton was an honest man 
who made an honest success. He was not responsible 
for the army of fakirs who in their eager fishing for 
fools brought discredit upon a legitimate business. 
It has been settled that ginseng can be grown as a 
cultivated crop, yet we firmly believe that the average 
gardener would never succeed with it. When we con¬ 
sider how few farmers are as careful as the average 
gardener we see the folly of advising all to try seeds 
or plants? As to the future demand for ginseng, we 
expect to see it decline. Chemists tell us that the root 
contains no such medicinal value as its price would 
indicate. Its use by the Chinese is based upon a 
superstition, and we believe that this will gradually 
be overcome. 
m 
Stranoers who attend a meeting of the Massachu¬ 
setts Fruit Growers’ As.sociation are astonished at 
some of the social features. The Worcester County 
Hortlcultun,! Society owns a substantial building and 
gives a series of entertainments to the people. This 
year when the fruit growers met, instead of holding 
an evening session the two societies united and gave 
a banquet and dance. Over 400 people attended the 
banquet. Many of them were city people who, in this 
way, met the farmers and fruit growers. The mayor 
of the city spoke and leading men from city and farm 
followed him. After listening to the speaking the 
meeting adjourned to the ball room where, the vener¬ 
able president, Mr. Hadwen, led the grand march. It 
was certainly a remarkable gathering. We doubt 
whether any city in the country can duplicate it. As 
a rule when farmers meet in a large city they are 
fairly swallowed up. No one seems to know or care 
where or when they meet. Not so in Worcester, 
Mass. The fruit growers’ meetings arc the events of 
the year, and the most prominent men in town are 
very glad to attend. Why is this? These farmers 
have given character and dignity to their profession. 
Not only that, but Mr. Hadwen and his associates 
are what we call “workers” who have taken an active 
interest in i.he beautifying of the city and the farm 
alike. The mayor referred to this in his speech, and 
told how through the example and influence of the 
Horticultural Society the farm dooryards on the roads 
leading to Worcester have bloomed forth with flowers. 
« 
The farm labor problem is becoming a nightmare 
on many eastern farms. In some parts of New York 
State farmers are well-night discouraged, as it seems 
impossible to secure competent help. This is even 
changing the character of farming. In some cases 
cows are being sold because farmers cannot obtain 
good milkers. We know of one farmer who has seed¬ 
ed most of his farm and will buy sheep and young 
cattle to eat the grass. We think this difficulty in 
obtaining help is partly responsible for the eagerness 
with which some men are willing to try any plan for 
raising a crop without much hired labor. The mulch 
method of growing fruit appeals to the.se men who 
may have good fruit land and yet cannot possibly 
give the “thorough” cultivation which the experts de¬ 
mand. Any plan which increases the power of one 
man to produce a crop “in partnership with Nature” 
appeals to the farmer at the mercy of a hired man. 
• 
The Agricultural Experimenters’ l>eague of New 
York has been organized with headquarters at the 
Agricultural College. Here is the object plainly 
stated: 
M'he object of this league shall be: For the promotion 
of cooperalive experiments in the vmidons departments 
of farm husbandry; for the promotion of intercourse 
among those studying farm problems: for the advance¬ 
ment of agricultural education; for the collection and 
dissemination of data relating to country life; and for 
the purpose of supporting legislation favorable to the 
promotion of these objects. 
That is just what we need in New York. The single 
experiment may prove only a suggestion.^ When it is 
repeated on hundreds of farms facts of great value 
may be obtained. Any farmer in the State may be¬ 
come an associate member of this I^eague. There 
ought to be 50,000 members this year. Prof. I. P. 
Roberts is honorary president with James E. Rice, ac¬ 
tive president. The secretary is Prof. John Craig, 
Ithaca, N. Y. 
• 
What happens to a man on a rural delivery route 
when, he refuses to buy one of the metal boxes “en¬ 
dorsed” by the Post Office Department? In most cases 
we think farmers have bought the boxes (more or less 
willingly) when notified by the Department that the 
old boxes were condemned. In some cases people have 
taken the jiosition that their homemade boxes were 
good enough, and that it was an unnecessary expense 
to buy the metal ones. We have asked the Depart¬ 
ment what would happen in case a patron failed to 
put up the new box after having been notified to do 
so. The answer, which we regard as very diplomatic, 
is as follows: 
Tbe Government docs not intend to compel any person 
to purchase a mail box, but the Post Ofllce Department 
has the right to refuse to deliver mail to a box which 
docs not conform to the requirements as set forth in 
the Postmaster-General’s order. 
This order describes the box which is to be used 
and tells where it must be placed. Such boxes are 
under the protection of the United States Govern¬ 
ment, while others are, not. The order seems clear, 
but we doubt whether the Department would be sus¬ 
tained in a refusal to deliver the mail if the patron 
were w'illing to risk the wooden box. If this has ever 
been brought to an issue we would like to know the 
facts. 
* 
BREVITIES. 
Will hard w'ork always cure hard luck? 
When the mercury goes to 20 degrees pul mats or straw 
on the hotbed! 
We should use a snail’s pace in beginning that diet of 
snails, mentioned on page 227. 
Yes, people who must foot the bill often feel that their 
expenses run away with them. 
In New York, no one Is allowed to prune shade trees 
without a permit from the Park Department. 
'J'HE death of Nicholas Olimer removes a notalilc figure 
in Ohio horticulture, and the loss will be keenly felt. 
‘‘liiTTLK p'^ach” is a disease well known to retail buyers 
of fruit in this city. It attacks the bottom of the package. 
A TRUST is being formed in dynamite and other explo- 
.sives. The ’’trust-busters” in Congress will probably 
avoid jarring it. 
Investigators at the Geneva Experiment Station state 
that American Cheddar cheese was found to contain 
lelramethylrnedia'mine and paranuclein. This fully ex¬ 
plains the ferocious character of the domesticated Welsh 
rabbit. 
The use of concrete for building purposes is becoming 
very common in parts of the West where timber is scarce 
and high. It is put to all sorts of uses. Farmers even in 
well-wooded sections may learn much from the exf 
ence of these western men. 
