72 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 1 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PARER. 
K National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Hr. Walter Van Fleet, 
Mrs. e. t. Koylk, 
Associates. 
John J. Hillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 52.04, 
equal to bs. 6d., or bVk marks, or lu ‘/2 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 us within one month of the time of 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 NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1902. 
The Western New York Horticultural Society may 
be said to be time-tried and storm-tested. In spite 
of the blizzard there was a rousing meeting at 
Rochester last week. We are glad that any ill feel¬ 
ing that may have existed last year has been wiped 
out. 'Many members of the ,New York State Fruit 
Growers’ Association were present, and the prevail¬ 
ing opinion is that both societies are needed—each to 
do a distinct and important work. 
* 
We find that many practical men are not satisfied 
with present results at the farmers’ institutes. There 
are not enough new faces at the meetings. Probably 
not 20 per cent of actual farmers have yet attended. 
What can be done now to draw them out? How are 
we to get out into the highways and byways and com¬ 
pel the lame and the halt of agriculture to come in? 
Here is a suggestion from one who has had long ex¬ 
perience: 
We have talked too much to the gray hairs, and too 
little to the children. The gray hairs may applaud and 
endorse what you say. but the children see the proces¬ 
sion, and they quickly fall into line. More than all this, 
, they take along with them many of the gray hairs. The 
young are teachable and the old are past that period. 
* 
Ox page 40 we mentioned a strong petition against 
oleo signed by 58 New York farmers. This was sent 
to Senator Chauncey M. Depew. The following reply 
was promptly received: 
I have not changed my views in regard to the matter 
about which you write, and always follow my opinions 
by active effort. chauncey m. depew. 
That’s business—just what we had a right to ex¬ 
pect! We venture to say that Senator Depew found 
over 10,000 letters on various subjects awaiting him. 
Yet, within 60 hours of his reaching Washington he 
makes a personal reply to this petition from 58 farm¬ 
ers! We don’t care to have any more faint-hearts 
say that the farmers cannot make themselves heard 
if they will get together, decide on a call within the 
range of their voices, and then yell together! 
* 
The recent great poultry show brought out much 
comment in the metropolitan press about the immense 
aggregate value of the egg crop of the country. Such 
figures as the following are given, taken from the 
United States census reports: The total production 
of the American hen last year was about 10,000,000,000 
of eggs, weighing 1,000,000,000 pounds, or 500,000 tons, 
the value at 16 cents a dozen being $138,000,000, or 
enough to pay the entire expenses of our War Depart¬ 
ment. This last statement, though doubtless quite 
correct, seems to be a scarer, to use the favorite ex¬ 
pression of the incredulous .Mr. Boffin. That the 
modest and retiring hen can virtually furnish the 
sinews of war to a mighty “world power” is an idea 
that never enters the average commercial mind, and 
seems a gross exaggeration when so baldly stated, but 
those who have to do with the never-ending care, 
watchfulness and incessant labor of the poultry keeper 
will rather wonder how a military establishment of 
less than 75,000 individuals, even when engaged in 
distant warfare, can dissipate an amount equal to the 
earnings of the millions of patient hen owners scat¬ 
tered over our great territory. War may still be an 
occasional necessity at this stage of our grotesque 
and incomplete civilization, but it is hard to con¬ 
vince many persons of the utility of the inhuman 
struggles that now cloud the opening of the new cen¬ 
tury. It certainly jars one’s feelings to think that 
our small army costs a sum represented by the 
united output of the countless hens of the United 
States and the ceaseless efforts of their keepers. 
* 
We have spent no time in discussing the trouble 
at Washington over the various anti-oleo bills. There 
were three of them—now tnere is another. Various 
politicians saw in the great uprising of the farmers 
in favor of honest dairy products a chance to paddle 
their little canoes into a more important harbor. 
They tried therefore to use their pet bill to advance 
their own interests! What a shame that men will 
pose as “friends of the farmer” while at heart they 
are friendly only to themselves! We decline to take 
any part in these personal controversies, except to 
say that Charles Y. Knight, of the National Dairy 
Union, appears to be fairly and honestly working 
for the rights of dairymen. The latest advices from 
Washington are that the Agricultural Committee by 
a vote of 12 to 5, has reported a new bill, stronger 
than any of the others. Now stop quarreling and 
fight the common enemy! 
* 
We have heard people praise the keen foresight 
and shrewdness of the true Yankee, and then go on 
to say that those who live in milder climates cannot 
compete with him. Is this always true? The purest- 
bred Yankees left in this country are to be found in 
the State of Maine. There is no place in the country 
where richer and higher colored apples can be grown 
than in northern .New England! Yet only here and 
there can be found Maine men who do their duty by 
their orchards! The result is that few customers 
know the superior quality of Maine fruit. In Cali¬ 
fornia, with a climate which, in theory, ought to be 
“enervating,” apples are grown, shipped 3,000 miles 
right into Maine’s natural territory, and sold at a 
profit. How is the Californian able to beat the Maine 
man? The chief reason is that he is able to agree 
with his neighbors and combine to learn to operate 
and to sell! Must a Yankee go 3,000 miles from home 
to raise a boy that can grasp opportunity? 
* 
Two “wonderful new forage plants” to be offered 
for sale this year are “Mand’s Wonder” and Brazil¬ 
ian millet. Prof. Wm. P. Brooks, of the Massachu¬ 
setts Experiment .Station, after the most careful tests, 
asserts that these “new” plants are identical in every 
way with Pearl millet—a crop with which many farm¬ 
ers are familiar. This Pearl millet does fairly well 
on light, dry and warm soils, but as generally grown 
will be voted about the least satisfactory of the mil¬ 
lets. The only “new” thing about these high sound¬ 
ing plants is their name. A farmer who wants 
to try them can buy Pearl millet at one-fourth 
the price charged for it under its fancy name. 
The same thing is true of “Billion Dollar 
Grass,” which is the Japanese millet. It has been 
grown for years, and sells at a fair price under its 
proper name. 'The seed is no better when the name 
is changed, but it costs a great deal more. No reader 
of The R. N.-Y. has any right to say that he has been 
swindled if he now pays out a lump of his money for 
these glowing names. Why do seedsmen persist in 
renaming old varieties? We are not mind readers, 
and cannot tell, but we presume it is because in spite 
of repeated warnings farmers continue to buy them! 
We presume it is a faot that by picking up these good 
old things and “booming” them with much ink the 
seedsmen sometimes actually do good. Some men 
will ignore a standard old variety for years, yet when 
it is offered as a “novelty” they will jump to pay 
double the regular price. 
* 
The College of Agriculture at Cornell is in need of 
a new and convenient building. This need is evident 
to all who know the real state of affairs. Agriculture, 
the most important of all industries, has really the 
poorest accommodation at the University. The Agri¬ 
cultural College has done much for t-he State, and 
deserves a comfortable and dignified home. Other 
States have provided the most ample accommodations 
for the study of agricultural science, and the farmers 
of New York State should have the headquarters of 
their profession equally well furnished. All this 
must be admitted, but we regret to say that the 
movement to secure this desirable building has not 
been conducted in a way calculated to inspire confi¬ 
dence on the part of the plain farmers. The subject 
has been approached in a roundabout, semi-secret 
political fashion, just as though the farmers of the 
State are not to be trusted with full and open confi¬ 
dence until “things are ready ior them.” The farmers 
of New York State do not need to be allured to a 
proposition arranged by political Schemers and carry¬ 
ing a grist for some other mill. Our experience con¬ 
vinces us that the way for farmers to obtain what 
they need is first to settle upon a fair and just mea¬ 
sure and then come boldly out and demand it. If the 
farmers of the State feel that Cornell needs the new 
building they can obtain it if they will exert their 
personal influence. They should not under any cir¬ 
cumstances leave the matter in the hands of design¬ 
ing politicians. Come out in the open to fight the 
battles of agriculture. 
* 
Ox page 67 a correspondent suggests a remedy for 
the fraud who obtains your signature on some inno¬ 
cent document and turns it up later at the foot of a 
note. As many persons refuse to be protected by the 
law of common sense some other law may be neces¬ 
sary. The plan suggested of making the note valid 
only when acknowledged before a notary would surely 
protect the swindled party, but this would not suit 
all. 'Some men give notes who for good reasons do 
not want the fact made public. It would also add to 
the cost and trouble of note making. In these signa¬ 
ture swindles the damage is done by the so-called 
“innocent third party,” who buys the bogus note and 
collects it. The local bank or some money lender se¬ 
cures the paper from the swindler and makes collec¬ 
tion. Make it impossible for this party to collect 
notes which he must know are not right, and there 
would be little danger from such swindles. We favor 
a law which will give this “innocent third party” who 
buys the note no better position before the law than 
the swindler who changed the paper. The local banks 
would hesitate to buy these notes if they knew the 
farmer could escape payment by showing their 
fraudulent character. 
* 
The query: “Are Japan plums subject to yellows” 
seems to be something of a conundrum. A few ex¬ 
perienced growers say yes, but most observers give it 
up. Apparently no one is prepared to give a decided 
negative. These plum trees are often short-lived, 
dying even under good culture from inability to as¬ 
similate the plant food offered. The query could bet¬ 
ter be answered if we knew just what Peach yellows 
is. By a process of exclusion in the prolonged inves¬ 
tigation of this subtle disease, the agencies of bac¬ 
teria, unsuitable climate and soil, and insect injuries 
have been successively set aside, and there only re¬ 
mains the theory of enzym infection starting from the 
pollen or seed ovule of a diseased parent, or directly 
inoculated by budding, grafting or other forms of bud 
propagation. The wood of plums is harder and more 
resistant than that of peaches, though the Japans ap¬ 
proach peaches in their brittleness of texture, and 
the most characteristic symptom of Peach yellows— 
the twiggy growth in the later stages—may be lack¬ 
ing when plums are affected, and yet the vital func¬ 
tions of the tree be so hindered by the poisonous 
enzym that a swift decline, ending in death, may take 
place. At any rate, we should find yellows in Japan 
plums, if it exists, more plentiful when peach roots 
or stocks are used, but there is no evidence to show 
this is the case. The boom in Japans is now over, 
and an era of critical selection is likely to follow the 
indiscriminate praise that has been heaped on these 
newcomers. The defects will be rigorously hunted 
up, and if they are more subject to yellows or any 
dangerous disease than other plums we shall soon 
know it. 
- _J 
BREVITIES. 
Wanted— selected varieties of the cow pea. 
Treat radical advice with conservative sense. 
The squab breeders seem to be doing pretty well! 
To improve your poultry will you buy one bird, five 
birds or eggs? 
The bran-for-horse-feed men seem to have talked the 
other side out of sight. 
We regret to say that gray hair on the outside of the 
head does not always indicate gray matter inside. 
Think of grown-up men with interests in common, stop¬ 
ping to kick at eacli other with the enemy in sight! 
Mr. Rogers, who writes the article on cement floors on 
page 60, has been a subscriber to The R. N.-Y. for over 
50 years. That subscription was surely laid in firm 
cement! 
We now notice that western Ben Davis growers admit 
that the variety grown under some conditions is not good. 
Well, gentlemen, please don’t send the culls here. They 
hurt the sale of all apples. 
In a recent jury trial in Orange Co., N. Y., the lawyer 
for one side asked this question of all jurymen: “Are you 
a subscriber of The R. N.-Y.?” He evidently did not 
want an “intelligent jury.” 
The State of Connecticut (and there are others) would 
be a good many thousand dollars better off if all the hay 
used for dairy purposes was cut before July 4 rather than 
after. When do you do your haying? 
This balanced ration idea is surely taking hold. This 
is what a New York State reader says: “I take one 
church paper, one New York daily paper and The R. N.- 
Y. Religious, secular and agricultural—that’s what I call 
a balanced ration for a farmer.” 
Eggs have been high this Winter, but the product of 
the American hen has never approached that of the Great 
auk. An egg of this bird was sold at auction last year in 
London for $1,222. Only 65 specimens of this egg are 
known to be in existence, and the bird is now extinct. 
