68o 
September 2 fi 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TEE BUSINESS EARNERS PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
EstaBlisJied 1850. 
Hebbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
DK. WALTER VAN FLEET, I 
Mbs. K. T. Boyle, Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
STJBSOBIPTION; ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. 6d., or 8Vi marks, or 10% francs. 
“A SQUARE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is 
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, but we 
do not guarantee to adjust trifling differences between 
subscribers 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 or the trans¬ 
action, and you must have mentioned The Rural NeW' 
Yorker 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 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NHW^-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street. New York. 
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1903. 
Those Little Envelopes 
that you found last week and the week before in the 
paper are coming back very nicely—basketfuls in 
every day’s mail. We cannot thank each one private¬ 
ly for the interest taken in this work, but we want 
here and now to thank each and all publicly for what 
has been done to make the work successful. There 
are many yet who are holding the little envelopes ex¬ 
pecting to send them in from time to time. Please 
do not delay this too long. Get that neighbor’s name 
and address on this now and his dime in the pocket, 
and mail. If you can do no better, hand the envelope 
to him or mail it to him, 
* 
A KECENT writer says that if farmers from earliest 
times had been compelled to sow clover and other 
legumes such a thing as lack of nitrogen in our soils 
would be unknown! Probably that is true, but there 
is small profit to be found among the “ifs.” Let us 
not bother about the mistakes of our ancestors, but 
see that our farms are now full of clover. 
* 
Let us all keep up the demand for a parcels post. 
This country is now about the only “civilized” nation 
that is held up by the express companies. We must 
have the chance to send fair-sized parcels under the 
Government stamp. The express companies will op¬ 
pose this change as long as they can, but this Govern¬ 
ment is not supposed to be run in the interest of ex¬ 
press companies! It will be though until the common 
people assert their rights. 
* 
If a farmer feed a potato plant, a hen or a cow on 
his own land the proceeds from these things should 
belong to him. No stranger has a right to come on 
his farm and dig the potatoes, milk the cow or shoot 
the hen. Now, when a farmer feeds a flock of quail 
or a partridge or a rabbit on the same farm has he 
not, in justice, an equal right to these animals? Why 
should a “sportsman” be glorified for shooting my 
game while a prowler goes to jail for robbing a hen¬ 
roost? 
There are reports of frost and severe storms from 
what is known as the “corn belt.” It will not be 
known for some time yet just how much damage was 
done, but the chances are that there will be consider¬ 
able soft corn to be fed out. Experiments have 
shown that this soft corn is but little inferior for 
feeding to hogs qr cattle, but it cannot be held so well, 
and of course is not fit for shipping. If the frost has 
nipped the corn we think more western hogs will be 
held for feeding, at least until Thanksgiving. Just 
at present sound corn promises to be high this 
Winter. 
* 
A NEW game for obtaining money has come to light. 
One of our readers received a note from a so-called 
“Publication Company” informing him that he had 
won a gold watch as a prize in a guessing contest. He 
was to send $1.30 at once or lose his chance! Thirty 
cents would pay for “packing” the watch and one dol¬ 
lar would cover a year’s subscription to a famous 
“magazine.” Our friend had never heard of the “com¬ 
pany” before, yet in this notice was a slip containing 
his name and address written in his own hand. This 
startled him, for he did not know what it meant. It 
is likely that these people are buying old letters from 
the waste paper dealers. Some correspondents write 
both name and address at the end of their letters. 
When this “company” find such a letter, it is an easy 
matter to clip off the lower part of the sheet and send 
it with their circular. Some people, on receiving such 
evidence of their own writing, might send the money 
when they otherwise would take no notice of the call. 
This is a new game, and it may make trouble for 
some one. Of course we advise readers to ignore all 
such calls for money, 
“Lung Block” is a square of cheap tenements in 
the lower East Side of New York City that has gained 
a sinister reputation for the appalling number of cases 
of lung tuberculosis it has turned out during the nine 
years that accurate sanitary records have been kept; 
265 cases of consumption have been ofldcially reported 
from this dreadful pest center within that time, and 
those most familiar with the locality think this is not 
half the real number of cases originating there. Hun¬ 
dreds of families are constantly herded in the dark, 
filthy and airless tenements with scant facilities for 
sunlight, cleanliness or the most primitive decencies 
of life. This is one of the darkest shadows of city 
life. Conditions in remote country localities are often 
■crude and unsatisfactory, but rural life holds nothing 
comparable to this vile den. Now that public atten¬ 
tion is being directed to the conditions maintained by 
grasping landlords in some of the congested districts 
of the city the worst horrors of “Lung Block” may be 
abated. 
Many readers have gone out of their way to obtain 
those short term subscriptions. One man tells us how 
a friend who needed farm information wrote him for 
help; 
1 told her 1 would write to you as the most likely 
.source of getting the information she wanted, and ad¬ 
vised her to subscribe for The R. N.-Y. and she couldi 
send her troubles to you direct, and I was sure what you 
did not know you could find out for her. She said she 
would subscribe right away. 
We were able to furnish the information quickly. 
This was a simple thing for our friend to do, but just 
such things count. Hundreds of thousands of sharp 
eyes read Tgeie R. N.-Y. every week, and thousands of 
sources of information are within reach, so that our 
friend is right in saying that if we “do not know” 
(which is quite likely) we “can find out!” 
• 
The most useful thing which most men can culti¬ 
vate is a spirit of humbleness. We have heard it said 
that a man weakens his powers by ever admitting 
that others can be as strong as he, but we do not be¬ 
lieve it. The man who cannot or will not see his own 
weak points will either stop growing or appear like a 
board full of knot holes which everyone else can 
plainly see. While it may seem that the “cheeky” 
individual who is constantly pushing himself forward 
gets more than his share of what life has to offer, in 
reality he is burning up his share ahead of his time. 
The humble man who is sure of his powers will in the 
end find himself appreciated. We must all come to 
the time when our best day’s work has been done. 
We shall find some one younger and stronger better 
able to fill our place. Then the humble spirit which 
we have cultivated will come like a crown for declin¬ 
ing years. 
We can all remember when the first serious talk 
about selling apples in boxes came up. The plan was 
laughed at for awhile, but now we observe that it is 
gaining rapidly. Here is a note from a well-known 
apple grower of central New York: 
The barrel question is getting to be a serious one. We 
cannot buy a barrel for less than 40 cents, and at that 
price there is not enough material on hand to make 7Q 
per cent of the barrels that will be needed for the present 
crop. I think boxes must come. 
This is not the only side to it. The habit of eating 
apples is growing in all the large towns and cities. 
The barrel is not a convenient package for the small 
family in flat or small house. There is sure to be a 
waste before the last apples are eaten. The box con¬ 
tains just about apples enough to last until decay 
would naturally begin. The small package of choice 
fruit will be the connecting link betwen the grower 
and the consumer. 
* 
The resignation of Joseph Chamberlain from the 
British Cabinet brings prominently forward a matter 
which concerns American farmers. For many years 
England has held to the policy of free trade. Origin¬ 
ally this policy was adopted in order to provide cheap 
food for English workmen. At that time England had 
nearly a monopoly of the skill, material and fuel 
needed to manufacture goods of fiber and metal. As 
manufacturing and commerce gave greater returns 
than agriculture it was thought wise to let farmers 
take care of themselves and provide for workmen in 
factories by taking all import taxes from raw ma¬ 
terials and food. As a result of this policy the Eng¬ 
lish factory for a time ruled the markets of the world 
in manufactured goods, while the English farm grad¬ 
ually declined in power and productive value. Now 
comes a time w’hen conditions are again changed. 
German and American factories are competing with 
England’s trade as never before. Under free trade 
the farms of England have declined in value. They 
produce neither the grain nor the men that came from 
them in former years. England is at the mercy of 
America and Russia for her food supplies, and with 
each generation the tie which binds her to the colo¬ 
nies grows weaker. In view of these facts Mr. Cham¬ 
berlain proposed a change in England’s policy—a step 
toward protection. He would encourage farmers by 
placing a small import tax on food products and en¬ 
courage the colonies by giving them a preferential 
tariff—that is, admitting their food products free un¬ 
der certain conditions, and thus give them the ad¬ 
vantage over our own country. Mr. Chamberlain re¬ 
signs because he says that the English workman is 
not yet ready for these changes. The opposition to 
any increased cost of food must be overcome, and he 
thinks he can do more to educate the people to his 
way of thinking while out of ofiice. The result of this 
battle against the old English system of free trade 
will be watched with great interest in America. Should 
the preferential tariff be adopted there can be no 
doubt that our farmers will lose a share of their ex¬ 
port trade in wheat, flour and provisions, and that 
Canada will gain what we lose. 
m 
This question comes to us from an Eastern State: 
Will you advise me as to what remedies and appliances 
I can use to exterminate the San Jos6 scale? I have a 
thrifty orchard of young peach trees and find the Sep¬ 
tember brood of young scale is very heavy on them and 
desire to know if there is any way to destroy them before 
they are fully grown. 
The experiment staUon in this State has given much 
attention to a study of the scale. Many bulletins have 
been issued and the subject has been thoroughly dis¬ 
cussed. Yet here is a man who knew nothing about 
it. Farmers’ institutes have been held in his town for 
years and at least three times this San Josd scale has 
been talked about Still, this man does not know 
what to use or where to go to find out A nurseryman 
told him to come to The R. N.-Y. Now there is some¬ 
thing wrong about this. The country and the Stale 
are spending large sums of money each year to pro¬ 
vide the instruction that farmers need. Thousands of 
farmers do not seem to know that the State provides 
such instruction. How are they to know? First of 
all, they ought to know where their experiment sta¬ 
tion is located. 
• 
When the bill appropriating $101,000,000 for dig- 
ging out the Erie Canal passed the New York Legis¬ 
lature the canal promoters thought they had ea.sy 
sailing. They thought the farmers might “growl” a 
little, but were not prepared for a serious contest. 
They did not realize that during the past few years 
New York farmers have been quietly organizing and 
slowly gaining the confidence and strength which can 
only come from united action. The canal promoters 
are amazed at the strength of the feeling against the 
barge canal. It is impossible to buy or bribe the men 
who are organizing the opposition. They have by far 
the best of the argument and they are gaining ground 
every day. If farmers could know how indifferent 
New York City voters are regarding this scheme they 
would take fresh courage. Stand on Broadway and 
ask 1,000 voters at random whether they favor a barge 
canal and perhaps not 50 of them will know or care 
anything about it. They will not take interest enough 
in it to mark their ballots. Let farmers take fresh 
hope and bring out the largest possible vote against 
the appropriation. 
BREVITIES. 
Friend.s of the birds are heard from on page 
684. 
Van Deman calls the Pall Pippin the best cooking 
apple. 
Who can fence out the east wind? The man who never 
makes a mistake! 
Sure to be left the man who expects to grow good 
apples on poor soil without feeding. 
Mr. Warren (page 676) tells how he uses a pair of 
"snow shoes” for pressing strawberry plants into tlie 
soft ground. 
When you think of depending on the city live markets 
for laying pullets remember that no wise man will feed 
a good pullet to laying age and then sell her. The un¬ 
wise man rarely breeds a good pullet. 
An Iowa man has been printing an alluring advertise¬ 
ment offering to tell ‘‘how to get fat for $5.” In response, 
he wrote to Inquirers, telling them to ‘‘get It at the 
butcher s.” He Is now under arrest, on a charge of using 
the mails to defraud. 
We are asked again and again to tell how to mix hen 
manure with chemicals to make a garden fertilizer. Dry 
and crush the manure and mix 800 pounds manure, 200 
pounds nitrate of soda, 250 pounds muriate of pota.sh and 
750 pounds acid phosphate. 
