234 
March 31 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homei. 
Established J850. 
Herbert W. Collinowood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, j 
H. E. Van Deman, > Associates. 
Mrs. E. T. Rotle, ) 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 82.04, equal t# 
8 s. 6d., or 8J4 marks, or 10*4 francs. 
ADVERTISING RATES. 
Thirty cents per agate line (14 lines to the inch). Yearly orders 
of 10 or more lines, and 1,000-line orders, 25 cents per line. 
Reading Notices, ending with “Adv.,” 75 cents per 
count line. Absolutely One Price Only. 
Advertisements inserted only for responsible and honorable houses 
We must have copy one week before the date of issue. 
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 NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1900. 
Mr. Wiley makes a strong prophecy on page 235 
regarding the future of fumigation. We think that he 
is nearly right. Public sentiment will demand such 
protection. It is a hardship on the nurseryman, but 
nothing like the hardship on the buyer, who pays for 
trees and spends time and money only to find them 
scaly and worthless at the end of a few years. It is 
always easier to kill a baby than to fight a giant. 
* 
Massachusetts fruit growers are trying to secure 
a law against “short” packages—like the one in New 
York State. The commission men oppose it. There 
must be uniform laws in all the States surrounding 
New York in order to force growers to give up these 
“short” packages. Men ought to court honesty for 
the love of it. That’s true, but the fact is that some 
men can only be made to associate with honesty 
through a court of justice. 
* 
Some farmers use large quantities of dissolved 
phosphate rock. They see quoted prices of raw 
ground rock, and ask if they cannot buy sulphuric 
acid and do their own “reducing” on the farm. No— 
it would be a mistake to attempt it. The operation is 
complicated and dangerous. It is one of the things 
that should be left to the manufacturers who have 
the necessary machinery. The raw phosphate rock 
can be used alone or mixed with plaster as an ab¬ 
sorbent, or put in compost heaps or manure piles. 
We advise against the use of sulphuric acid on the 
farm. A single drop can destroy an eye! 
* 
In reckoning up the cost of production, do farmers 
and fruit growers make proper allowance for their 
own labor? The secretary of the American Cranberry 
Growers’ Association in a circular letter recently ad¬ 
dressed to that body, says they do not, and also calls 
attention to the fact that when their crop is hurried 
to market early in the season, low prices prevail, and 
the profits are gained by dealers wbo buy the fruit at 
this time of glut, and store it until high prices come. 
The remedy suggested is that the growers combine, 
provide proper places of storage, and put the fruit on 
the market in accordance with the demand, thus 
avoiding gluts. These observations apply quite as 
strongly to other crops as to cranberries. To market 
farm and orchard products in an up-to-date manner 
is quite as important as to grow them well. 
* 
So-called “promoters” of creameries or canning 
factories are reaping a rich harvest this year. We 
have explained their methods many times. A slick, 
plausible agent comes to town and talks to business 
men about the great value of a creamery or canning 
factory. Of course, they agree with him, for the town 
is to get the factory and they are to put up but little 
money for it. Then some prominent farmer is se¬ 
cured. Usually he gets a bonus for his work. He 
goes around among the farmers and “talks it up.” He 
is a good talker, and the result is that farmers sign 
an agreement to take a certain amount of the stock 
of the concern. Then a meeting is held, a committee 
appointed, and usually an agreement is made with 
the agent to have him build and stock a factory. He 
names his own price, which is usually 50 per cent or 
more greater than the outfit is really worth. Then 
the promoter goes ahead and puts up the plant. It is 
usually “accepted” without hesitation by the com¬ 
mittee, and then the promoter starts out to collect. 
By means of bluffs, wheedling, promises, or threats he 
collects in cash or notes a good share of the subscrip¬ 
tions. He then gets out—usually discounting the 
notes at a county bank. He leaves behind a factory 
costing far more than it should, and usually alto¬ 
gether too big for the local needs. The business men 
ana “prominent citizens” who subscribed large sums 
do not, as a rule, pay much actual cash. The cost is 
usually paid by the farmers who subscribed smaller 
sums. If the farmers are ready to put up more money 
and produce enough to keep the factory busy, they 
may in time get their money out. It is usually hard 
work to do this, and, in many cases, the factory 
stands idle after one brief and disastrous season. It 
will be asked, how is it possible to work such a game 
on shrewd, level-headed farmers? That is one of the 
mysteries of agriculture. It remains a sad fact that, 
while an honest and respected man cannot induce his 
neighbors to cooperate, an irresponsible and strange 
rascal can induce them to throw their hard-earned 
dollars into his hat. Who is the wise man that will 
explain this thing? 
* 
The oleo men are now making much of the argu¬ 
ment that filthy milk is sometimes sent to the cream¬ 
ery for buttermaking. Then they say that laws to 
compel dairymen to be clean are more needed than 
laws to regulate the sale of oleo. Of course they 
think so. From their standpoint filth in milk is a 
terrible crime, while filth in business morals is a 
little thing. Dairymen do not object to fair sanitary 
laws. They will be clean if the oleo people will be 
honest. All manner of tricks are resorted to in order 
to evade the present laws. Just as in the sale of 
“process,” or deviled butter, all sorts of schemes are 
practiced to pass the stuff off dishonestly. In some 
cases where the State laws demand that packages 
shall be plainly marked, purple wrapping paper is 
used, with the printed name in about the same col¬ 
ored ink. In other cases yellow ink is used on the 
white wrapping paper, so that it cannot be easily 
read. No use talking, the oleo business is full of 
fraud which our present laws cannot prevent. 
* 
^ It is pretty well understood that the tobacco grow¬ 
ers of the Connecticut Valley were strong enough to 
make the President change his intention regarding 
the Porto Rican tariff. It was claimed that this 
country had entered into an agreement with the Porto 
Ricans to give them equal trade rights with the peo¬ 
ple in our own country. The tobacco growers put in 
the claim that certain rights had also been promised 
them. So far as one Administration could do so, they 
had been guaranteed protection for their tobacco. On 
the strength of this they spent money for tobacco 
barns and other necessary fixtures. Free trade in 
tobacco would so reduce the price that this capital 
will not pay interest. At least that is the way they 
reasoned, and being Americans and voters, they car¬ 
ried their point. The fruit growers have made such 
strong protests against the reciprocity treaties that 
they seem to have been hung up until after the elec¬ 
tion. Surely the American farmer has a good mem¬ 
ory. He remembers what was promised him. Other 
protected interests have set him a fine example of 
hustling for “what there is in it!” 
* 
Every Spring brings us a flood of questions about 
fertilizers. Many people have an idea that they can 
buy the chemicals and mix at home. So they can, but 
not always to any great profit. For crops like grass 
or grain, simple mixtures of potash, bone, phosphate 
and nitrate of soda will answer well. For many other 
crops more complicated mixtures are required. Con¬ 
trary to the general opinion, it requires skill, experi¬ 
ence and thorough knowledge to make a proper mix¬ 
ture of chemicals. It is a far more accurate job than 
that of mixing paint or cement. It should never be 
left to any careless hand. We hesitate to advise a 
novice, or one who has never studied out something of 
the chemistry of fertilizers, to depend entirely on 
home mixing. In most cases it would be better for 
them to use the standard mixtures made by well- 
known manufacturers. Most of our questions come 
from new beginners. We advise them first to study 
the subject in bulletins and books, and then to make 
careful mixtures for comparison in the field by the 
side of standard brands. Take several rows right 
through the field. The small plot experiment does 
not tell a fair story. 
* 
v the National Currency bill, making gold the official 
standard of value, has been enacted into a law, and 
its effect for good or evil will soon be felt. This is 
almost wholly a bankers’ measure, as the financial 
world has been urging something like it for over 20 
years. The farmers and producers of the country 
have had little to do with it. Still it is only fair to 
say that lack of organized opposition on the part of 
the true wealth-producers has given the consent that 
silence always implies to this measure. The public 
has had so much discussion of currency matters that 
it has become ureu of the whole subject, and was will¬ 
ing to let this measure go through practically by de¬ 
fault. As finally passed, it, in effect, makes a present^, 
to every National bank of 10 per cent of its capital, 
as it releases the reserve of that amount, and allows 
the bank to issue notes to the full amount of its cap- _ 
ital, thus giving full double profit on every dollar in¬ 
vested; it will pay over $80,000,000 bonus on the re¬ 
maining bonded indebtedness of the Nation, which 
has only a few years to run, and it practically fastens 
a permanent indebtedness on the country by author¬ 
izing another issue of bonds, whose payment cannot 
be accomplished for a generation, and then only after-' 
more than $300,000,000 has been spent in interest. It 
gives the money-handlers an opportunity, by com-^ 
bination, to force panics or create an expansion of 
business at will. The workings of this formidable 
measure will be watched closely, as it is well known 
that its advocates are not generally angels of public 
generosity, and may not be inclined to use their new 
and excessive powers with moderation. 
* 
BREVITIES. 
A cavalry saber hangs up on the wall, 
All battered and twisted and eaten by rust; 
’Twas new when Its owner heard Liberty call. 
And into his lingers the weapon was thrust. 
And many a desperate battle, I ween 
This rusty and battered old saber has seen. 
My little boys asks me again and again, 
A hundred odd questions— "What good does it do?' 
"And why is it rusty?” and “What makes that stain 
At the handle?” and “What is it worth, Pa, to you?" 
The little chap never heard Liberty call. 
He hasn’t heard Freedom’s harsh lesson at all. 
1 tell him the story—how up through the smoke 
Of Malvern Hill’s battle the enemy came; 
Up! Up to the cannon until the line broke, 
Bent, wavered and vanished—scorched out by the flame; 
How over the cannon one brave fellow lay, 
The saber held tight in his dead hand that day. 
My little boy ponders the tale at my knee, 
“I wish we had sabers and lighting,” he cries, 
“I wish there were tyrants and men to set free, 
And heroes to suffer and light for a prize. 
There isn’t a war or a chance to be brave. 
Or swords to be carried, or country to save.” 
Ah! little boy! Never found hero a time, 
In all of the ages that history knows, 
So filled up as this age with chances sublime 
For meeting and conquering deadliest foes. 
Not with the old saber can you win your fight, 
Your weapon is forged out of justice and right. 
For falsehood chains truth and injustice is strong, 
And ignorance tramples on Liberty’s law. 
The country needs men with a hatred for wrong, 
A heart without fear and a life without flaw. 
And nothing is nobler, my boy, than the light, 
That honest hearts make to be true to the right. 
Old sawdust makes a good mulch. 
No—a sooty chimney is not suitable. 
Pass the growler—lie’s full of whine. 
Can you seed to clover easily after beans ? 
Yes, the Yankee is generally a beany factor. 
It may pay you to consider the hnckwheat crop. 
The smooth tongue may make a rough road for you. 
Beware of the man whose wife always agrees with him. 
Who’s the boss at your place—wife, yourself or hired 
man? 
Let the man with the hoe, hold on. Better times are 
ahead! 
What a scarcity of Winter peais you find in farmers' 
orchards. 
It cost $123,801 to clean New York streets after the last 
snowstorm. 
We had no idea that there was so much interest in the 
cherry crop. 
The rule of gold is a very different thing from the 
Golden Rule. 
Has life a salve of healing balm for the farmer who 
does not love the farm? 
Catching fiies in the outfield is good for the ball player 
but bad for the dairy cow. 
Oh! If we only had a load of carrots for the horses! 
It would help fit them for Spring work. 
That’s right, Mother—give Father the peace of your 
mind— which may now be past his understanding. 
Remember that increased tillage helps burn up the 
organic matter in the soil. We must put it back in 
some way. 
Grain always contains a high proportion of phosphoric 
acid. Corn cobs are very rich in potash. Thus the corn 
crop always requires a fertilizer rich in these minerals. 
It is said that poultices of paper pulp are being used 
in some Government hospitals, in place of flaxseed. This 
suggests that under such circumstances, even the paper 
trust becomes a drawing card. 
The charge is made that in some States no man can 
get on the institute platform as a dairy speaker unless 
he is a silo man. That won’t do. There are still some 
honest men who do not care for a silo. 
It is reported that in some sections of Indiana the farm¬ 
ers are planning to name the country roads, as the streets 
are named in the city. It is also suggested that, in place 
of street numbers, each farmer attach his name near the 
front gate. 
The Loud bill which aimed to regulate postage rates, 
failed in Congress. We considered it a just measure. It 
would have saved the Government $20,000,000 per year. A 
few publishers of cheap books and “sample copies” were 
strong enough to kill it. 
