1808 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
287 
"WTIAT I SEE AND HEAR. 
Those Dressed Lambs. —The receivers are still mak¬ 
ing a vigorous kick against the ordinance that com¬ 
pels the removal of the feet and heads. This ordi¬ 
nance was secured at the instance of city butchers, 
hut it is said to injure the sale of the lambs. Nothing 
seems to have been done so far to secure its repeal. 
Lambs have been coming in freely during the past 
week, and the weather has been so cold that they have 
arrived in pretty good condition. We have had reg¬ 
ular March weather ever since the very first day of 
April, much better weather for shipping all kinds of 
perishable goods than we had at any time during 
March. Still, receipts of lambs have been so heavy 
that prices have been low. 
X X X 
Colorado Muskmelons. —We have spoken several 
times of the fine melons sent here from Rocky Ford, 
Col., last Fall. The firm which handled most of them 
then informed me that they have made arrangements 
to handle the whole output next Fall. They expect a 
good, brisk demand, but do not expect quite so high 
prices as they received last Fall, principally because 
there will be so much larger supply. Last Fall, they 
handled about two car-loads a day, but next Fall, 
judging from the amount.of ground planted, they ex¬ 
pect to receive about eight car-loads daily. The size 
and quality of the eastern crop will have some effect 
on the price, but the Colorado melons are of such fine 
quality that there will be a good demand for them 
anyway. Marketmen here do not agree in their names 
for these melons, probably because they don’t really 
know what they are. Some say they are Jenny Linds, 
some call them Gems, while others simply call them 
Rocky Fords or Colorados. When they are again in 
market, we shall try to settle the question as to what 
they are. Meanwhile eastern growers must make up 
their minds that a strong competitor has come, be¬ 
cause the quality is such that customers want more, 
and will have them if possible. The muskmelons that 
bring the highest prices are what marketmen call 
basket melons, that is, the small, fancy ones, that are 
usually sent in baskets. 
X X X 
No Commission Merchant. —In this column for 
March 12, I told about a bogus commission merchant 
who had been arrested in Brooklyn, and taken into 
the country where he had duped many shippers, to be 
tried for his rascally dealings. We are now informed 
through friends, that the rascal was taken before a 
judge who held that he was not a commission mer¬ 
chant, but was a dealer who bought the goods out¬ 
right, hence could not be held criminally, but could 
be proceeded against only in a civil suit for the value 
of the goods purchased, hence he was liberated. The 
judge who made this decision may know more about 
law than The R. N.-Y., but I’ll warrant that he 
doesn’t know half so much about the practices of this 
class of blacklegs. The large cities are full of them, 
and in spite of our repeated warnings and exposures, 
they continue to thrive. The friend mentioned above 
seuds us some of the letters the above dealer (?) sent 
out. They are written on common letter paper with 
the following heading at the top, evidently put on 
with a rubber stamp : 
THE KAUFMAN COMPANY, 
DEALERS IN 
BUTTER, EGGS, POULTRY, ETC., 
No. 1176% Bedford Avenue, 
BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
Reference Exchanged. 
Advances made. 
The letters themselves bear the earmarks of the pro¬ 
fessional fraud. The first one starts off by saying : 
“ Your name was handed us,” etc. The way shippers’ 
names are generally handed is by these thieves sneak¬ 
ing around the stores of reputable commission mer¬ 
chants and stealing the names off the packages they 
receive. Then the company speaks of inclosing their 
market report. Any man with a few cents cash can 
get these to send out, as there are firms that get them 
up every day, and change the heading to suit each 
customer. Then they speak of their “large, fine 
trade, and are all well cleaned up, and can use all you 
may send.” Then to show their extreme liberality, 
they say, “ We pay net, no commission off, and at 
times, can do better than quotations.” Then they 
quoted prices a little higher than those ruling at that 
time, ask for a trial shipment, and promise to do their 
best, to make returns and send empties daily, and if 
the shipper run short, to send empties free. Then 
they speak of the possibility that they may call on 
the shipper, all of which is, of course, bait to catch 
shipments. So far as we have heard, no returns were 
ever made. Another letter acknowledges receipt of 
two cases of eggs, tells of the sale of one at high 
prices, and urges the sending of more at once. The 
last letter, written about a month later, states “ We 
are out of business, and our attorney will settle your 
account.” Then followed the arrest and farcical ex¬ 
amination. This is written, not to warn against this 
firm, but to show something of the methods of opera¬ 
tion, and as a warning to shippers, for there are still 
plenty of frauds of the same character, whose methods 
are varied somewhat, but who work on the same gen¬ 
eral principles in securing victims. Let them alone ! 
__ F. II. V. 
CANADIAN EXCLUSION OF AMERICAN 
NURSERY STOCK. 
Late in March, the Dominion Parliament passed a 
law, without giving much, if any, opportunity for 
debate or protest, forbidding the importation into 
Canada of nursery stock from any country where San 
Jos6 scale is prevalent. It is generally supposed that 
this law was aimed primarily against the United 
States, and many consider it a retaliatory measure 
against our duties upon Canadian products. The R. 
N.-Y. has obtained the views of a large number of 
representative nurserymen of this country, upon this 
law, and strangely enough, finds them widely diver¬ 
gent. Some of them urge the importance of concerted 
action in order that the effects of this law may be 
overcome, or at least, mitigated; but many of them 
must change their views radically if they ever accom¬ 
plish anything along that line. Their views on the 
effects of the law upon the trade of our nurserymen 
vary widely, perhaps partially through a failure to 
comprehend fully the provisions of the law. As we 
understand the latter, it shuts off completely and at 
once, the shipment of nursery stock from this country, 
as there is no opportunity for examination, or dis¬ 
crimination in favor of nurseries that may be ab¬ 
solutely un infested. 
Some of the nurserymen seem to think that the law 
will not prevent the delivery of stock already con¬ 
tracted for, but they are, evidently, wrong. Many of 
our nurserymen have had a large trade with Canada, 
although some of them have not sought this trade be¬ 
cause of the high duty imposed by Canada. Still some 
say that many Canadian planters prefer to buy stock 
on this side of the line. But the greatest loss falls 
upon those nurserymen who have employed agents to 
make sales for Spring delivery, and have already ex¬ 
pended large sums in commissions and expenses, which 
must be a totai loss. Those who sell from catalogues 
will simply lose the trade. One of the latter scolds 
the agricultural papers for “ their ill-advised and oft- 
repeated scare articles on the San Jos6 scale ”. He 
must have a high opinion of the influence of these 
papers, for he ascribes the whole trouble to them, and 
recommends that, hereafter, they keep still, rather 
than try to help set matters right. Others recommend 
that the trouble be taken at its source, and that by 
every available means, the pest be stamped out, as 
nearly as may be. Some advocate the putting of a 
high duty on Canadian fruit, thus retaliating upon the 
Canadians who, they claim, are flooding - our northern 
markets. Others say that the duty our Government 
already exacts, and which, it seems, is high enough to 
be nearly prohibitive, is the cause of this “ retaliatory 
legislation ”. A good way apart for concerted action ! 
Most nurserymen seem to think that the law was 
passed at the instance, and in the interest of, 
Canadian nurserymen, and is not countenanced 
by Canadian orchardists. If this be so, our nur¬ 
serymen would have strong allies in any action 
they might undertake. Some are more hopeful, and 
say that improved conditions here will assure a home 
trade that will more than make up for any loss from 
the operation of this law. Not one has anything to 
say in relation to the exclusion of stock that is shown 
upon examination to be affected with San Jos6 scale. 
Probably all recognize the justice of such prohibition. 
The Use of Nitrogen. —I know of no reason for 
supposing that the ill effects of an excessive use of 
nitrogenous fertilizers may be prevented by generous 
applications of phosphoric acid and potash. In my 
judgment, the fact that a fertilizer is well balanced, 
will stimulate rather than retard growth. Doubtless, 
the use of large quantities of nitrate of soda or dried 
blood tends to the production of wood with a corres¬ 
ponding tendency towards less fruit. It is possible, I 
think, that the quality of fruit may, also, be dimin¬ 
ished by a free use of nitrogenous fertilizers, as well 
as by turning under large crops of Crimson clover or 
other legumes. I am not aware, however, of any 
practical results, or any well-established theories 
which would lead us to suppose that a correspond¬ 
ingly free use of phosphates and potash salts would 
prevent this undesirable woody growth. If we may 
judge by analogy, this would not be true, because ex¬ 
cessive growth of farm crops, such as corn and pota¬ 
toes, may be induced by excessive fertilization, even 
with a balanced fertilizer. If excessive nitrog'en does 
cause a too free growth of wood, as is believed, it will 
do that, in my opinion, whether phosphoric acid and 
potash are available in large quantities or not. In 
fact, all the necessary elements must be present in 
certain sufficient available quantities, or the growth 
will fall below the possibilities. If 1 were a renter, 
and wished to get the most immediate and most com¬ 
plete effects of a nitrogenous fertilizer during the 
year of its application, I would not use large quanti¬ 
ties, and would select the most readily available forms 
as, for instance, nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, 
or the very best quality of blood. If it is possible to 
do so, I would, when using nitrate of soda, apply it 
at several times during the growing season, rather 
than make one application of the whole amount. 
Geneva Experiment Station. w. H. Jordan. 
It is stated by the London Field that, during the 
past nine years, the British consumption of Indian 
corn has more than doubled. This, however, does not 
replace barley or oats ; a great deal of it is used in 
adulteration. It is used to adulterate wheat flour, 
oatmeal, mustard, licorice and pepper ; is employed 
by brewers, confectioners, and jam makers, and is 
also supplanting wheat for sizing flour used in the 
cotton mills. Corn flour used to adulterate wheat, 
when carefully ground between rollers, with the usual 
sifting screens, will deceive even a chemical analyst, 
and “ blended” flour in varying qualities is now giv¬ 
ing the same dissatisfaction abroad as here. It is 
asserted by some millers that “ blended ” flour keeps 
better in a trying climate than the pure article. 
There has been some controversy as to the value of 
a windmill for pumping water as compared with gaso¬ 
line or steam engines. A 16-foot geared windmill was 
used at the Wisconsin Experiment Station for pump¬ 
ing water. It ran from March 6 to August 31, or 178 
days, with pumps large enough to utilize the power 
of the mill. Taking the wind as it came, the mill 
stood idle 2,361 hours out of 4,272, which meant an 
average of 10% working hours per day. During its 
working hours, the mill lifted 1,402,906 cubic feet of 
water. This is an average of about 91% gallons per 
minute for working hours. With a wind velocity of 
26 miles per hour, the mill averaged for 24 hours over 
200 gallons per minute. A gas engine of 2% horse¬ 
power working at full speed 10 hours per day, would 
lift, in 178 days, about three times as much water as 
this mill, but it would cost about $170 for fuel. Three 
such mills, with no greater proportion of working 
hours than this one, would do about the same amount 
of work as the engine, and charge nothing for fuel or 
repairs. Of course, with the mills, a large reservoir 
would be necessary to hold the surplus water, while 
with the engine, this would not be necessary. In 
speaking of wind power, Prof. F. II. King, of Wiscon¬ 
sin, says: 
If a windmill could be constructed strong enough to stand up 
to the wind under any velocity, and could be made to increase its 
load when pumping, instead of regulating off, evidently a very 
much larger amount of water could be lifted by it during a season, 
and for irrigating purposes, it would be much more effective. 
Inventors are now at work upon schemes for utilizing 
the surplus work of the windmills by storing up com¬ 
pressed air, or using water to run a small turbine 
wheel. When they succeed in this, it is likely that 
windmill machinery will be more popular than ever. 
BUSINESS BITS. 
G. A. McCormick, President of Altoona Fuel and Ice Company, 
Altoona, Pa., is not a safe man to extend credit to. 
Be on the lookout for O. H. Stearns, at this time of year. He 
operates under different names at different times, and forgets to 
send the goods after he has received the money. He usually deals 
in poultry foods and fertilizers. 
We still continue to receive inquiries about that Maine concern 
that wants to teach people to make flowers, and give them work 
at home, with good pay afterwards. Once more we advise to 
have nothing to do with any such concern. 
The Klondike Sprayer is the name given an implement for dis¬ 
tributing insecticides on growing plants, cattle and poultry 
houses, etc. It is made by The Eureka Company, Rock Falls, 111. 
Description of it will be sent on application. 
Advertisers sometimes convert the poet’s lines to their own 
use with good effect. Here is a sample by the manufacturers of 
Enameline stove polish: 
Man’s work is from sun to sun, 
While woman's work is never done 
Unless upon her stove is seen 
Modern Stove Polish—ENAMELINE. 
The sanitary poultry drinking fountaiu made by Atsatt Bros., 
Mattapoisett, Mass., seems to us like a good thing. It is easy to 
clean, it will not freeze, and can be hung up on an ordinary nail. 
It looks like an excellent fountain. 
There is no longer any question about the wisdom of spraying 
fruit trees, shrubs and vines to destroy the insect pests that in¬ 
fest them and depreciate the value of their fruit. The only trou¬ 
ble is to get small growers to spray early and thoroughly. There 
are many kinds of spraying apparatus made for the purpose at 
various ranges of prices. The Berger Mfg. Co., of Canton, Ohio, 
are making a little pump which would seem to meet every re¬ 
quirement of an effective spray pump at a moderate cost. It is 
equipped with a variety of nozzles to throw a broad or narrow 
stream, and a coarse or fine spray as may be desired. Their cat¬ 
alogue and spraying calendar will be sent on application. 
