THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
January 23 
56 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
H jrbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
DH. WALTER VAN FLEET, 1 ARRO( , latfis 
Mrs. E. T. Boyle, f Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. 6d., or 8*4 marks, or lO 1 ^ 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 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, JANUARY 23, 1904. 
“Mapes the hen man” told us recently of his pro¬ 
posed trial of liquid wastes from a meat-rendering 
factory. He will probably be disappointed with what 
the hens say to this soup. Boiling removes very lit¬ 
tle of the real nutriment from meat. What it does 
take is more stimulant than nourishment. A vege¬ 
table soup would prove more nourishing. 
* 
We have a reader who urges us to go on demand¬ 
ing a parcels post. As for him, he says, he will pray 
for it. We have no thought of irreverence when we 
say that this man may well pray with postage stamps. 
We have seen some worthy things well started on the 
wings of prayer that seemed to stop and fall because 
those who prayed for them failed to pray with the 
pocketbook! Let us therefore write some of our pray¬ 
ers out and stamp them! 
* 
Let us not forget the meeting of the Western New 
York Horticultural Society at Rochester January 27- 
28. This meeting is always a sort of general round¬ 
up of horticultural progress for the year. Many other 
States send delegations and there is probably no other 
meeting at which a fruit grower can learn more about 
his business. The programme is always excellent. 
Some of the best fruit growers in the country attend, 
and are willing to give advice or answer questions. 
* 
As explained on page 60 the true test in packing a 
box of apples is its ability to stand shipment. It may 
look nice in the packing shed, but how will it look 
when opened before the customer? All the beauty 
may be bruised and shaken out of the apples if they 
are not firmly packed in the box. For a fruit exhibi¬ 
tion the wisest plan would be to have the boxed 
apples shipped 500 miles or more by ordinary meth¬ 
ods, then open them all together and give prizes to 
the fruit that stands shipment best. 
* 
A quantity of Brazilian coffee was sold for deliv¬ 
ery in New York. It was found to be colored with 
ochre, which under the New York pure food law is 
adulteration. The buyer refused to receive this col¬ 
ored coffee, and the State courts sustained him. The 
case was taken to the Supreme Court, which has just 
upheld the pure food law. Thus the addition of col¬ 
oring matter is declared to be legal adulteration. This 
seems perfectly fair, since the addition of coloring 
matter is evidently an attempt to deceive the con¬ 
sumer by counterfeiting a pure article. 
* 
At the New York State Fruit Growers’ meeting at 
Geneva Albert Wood, a well-known farmer, made a 
fine exhibit of pears. He told us how he sold his crop 
to a man whom he “never saw before and has never 
seen since.” There has been much trouble from scab 
and Pear psylla this season, but Mr. Wood felt so sure 
of his crop that he made this proposition: “I will 
ship in carload lots and if you can find a pear with a 
scab spot or marks of the psylla on it I will give you 
the carload.” A man must have wonderful faith in 
his crop to make such an offer, but Mr. Wood’s faith 
was justified, for no spotted pears were found. He felt 
sure of his ground because those pears had been 
handled as well as it was possible to handle them with 
our present knowledge of fruit requirements. They 
were sprayed nine times—five times with whale-oil 
soap and four times with Bordeaux—no wonder Mr. 
Wood was proud of them and ready to stake his repu¬ 
tation on them. It must be a pleasure to produce and 
sell such fruit. There is no more skillful or exacting 
work in any trade or profession than that of carrying 
a crop of fruit through a trying season and landing it 
without a blemish on the market. No wonder a skill¬ 
ful fruit grower is proud of his business. Such men 
are true educators. The fruit they sell helps the mar¬ 
ket. encourages consumption and sets a standard for 
others. 
* 
There was one great reason why some of our pub¬ 
lic men were slow to see the needs of the Agricul¬ 
tural College. They confused it with the experiment 
station, and thought this institution could and should 
do the work of the college. Now they begin to un¬ 
derstand that the work of the college must of neces¬ 
sity be different from that of the station. One teaches 
—the other investigates. It may be true that some 
of the stations have found it necessary to do “popu¬ 
lar” work in order to attract attention, but such work 
belongs more properly to the college and will, we 
think, go more and more to it. Both station and col¬ 
lege are necessary, and must be supported. 
* 
Where a dairyman can grow Alfalfa hay to advan¬ 
tage it would seem poor policy to grow average crops 
of Timothy hay. The crop of Alfalfa from an acre is 
worth three times as much for dairy feed as the Tim¬ 
othy from the same area, and far better suited to feed 
with silage. Yet, on some dairy farms, Timothy pays 
well. The best natural grass lands are seeded after 
the famous Clark plan, and well fed. The hay is sold 
and the money used to buy grain to feed with the 
Alfalfa. Custom has decided that Timothy, though 
worth much less for feeding than Alfalfa, shall sell 
for a higher price per ton. Near a good local market 
a ton of Timothy hay will often buy, in grain, 25 per 
cent more actual food than it carries away from the 
farm. 
* 
Governor Odell, in his message to the New York 
Legislature, called attention to the needs of agricul¬ 
tural education in this State. Speaker Nixon, of the 
Assembly, goes further than the Governor and dis¬ 
tinctly states that the College of Agriculture should 
be properly housed and equipped. It is clearly the 
duty of the State to provide for the college and sup¬ 
port the experiment station, and we rejoice that lead¬ 
ing public men at last realize that the farmers are 
sincere in their demands for higher education. Start¬ 
ing with the respectful appeal of a few far-sighted 
men, this demand for true farm education has become 
irresistible and will not be denied. It is no more than 
fair that we should now write the Governor and thank 
him for the interest he has shown in the college and 
experiment station. 
* 
Edward M. Shepard has been telling Harvard Col¬ 
lege that the American city should govern America. 
He thinks what he calls “the rule of the hayseeds” 
is nearly over: 
I do not think that this country will ever he controlled 
by a single city, as in olden times. Instead, it will be a 
body of 50 to 100 cities, with the communities surrounding 
them, that will represent the United States. New York 
already has more than half the population of the State 
of New York. And in 20 years the City of New York will 
govern the State. The hayseeds, as they are called, at 
Albany will be dependent on us, instead of our being de¬ 
pendent on them. And the same will be true of Boston 
in Massachusetts. The politics of the country will be an 
interplay of the big cities, and they will determine the 
future statesmanship and government. 
In the early days of the Republic this country was 
governed largely by farmers, and if we judge by re¬ 
sults, it must be said that they made a fair job of the 
governing. Where Mr. Shepard and others like him 
make their mistake is in supposing that the drift 
away from the country is to continue. There is every 
reason to think that it will be stopped. Rural mail 
delivery and rural telephones have already made 
country life happier and more satisfying, and the 
parcels post, better roads, electric railroads and auto¬ 
mobiles will do much to stop the drain away from 
the farms. Then again we are to have a new plan of 
public instruction in our country schools. Instead 
of teaching the children to get away from the farm 
we are in time to have text books and teachers that 
will dignify farm life, show its possibilities and draw 
more young people to it. There will also be a move¬ 
ment away from the city. Instead of being a term of 
reproach “hayseed” will be a worthy title. 
* 
Gov. Murphy of New Jersey devotes a part of his 
message to the sign-board nuisance. He says that on 
one railroad between Trenton and Jersey City there 
are 1,601 big advertising signs. The articles thus ad¬ 
vertised embrace whisky, clothing for women, pills, 
breakfast foods, liniment, books—in fact, about every¬ 
thing that the human mind can devise. It will not bo 
long before trains will run through solid lanes of ad¬ 
vertising signs and the stranger will be obliged to 
trust to luck that the trusts have left anything of the 
natural scenery in New Jersey. Gov. Murphy is told 
by the lawyers that it will he hard to kill off this 
nuisance, but he suggests taxation so high that such 
advertising would not pay. We do not believe it 
pays anyway. Who ever bought a porous plaster, a 
pill or a corset as a result of looking at one of these 
glaring signboards? We have been surprised that 
sharp business men keep up this expensive form of 
advertising when there are better methods of reach¬ 
ing the public. We hope Gov. Murphy will keep up 
his warfare against the signs, though we doubt if his 
high taxation scheme will work. We must educate 
the people so that they will take more pride in their 
homes and farms, and refuse to have them disfigureJ 
by these signs. 
* 
One of our readers was recently asked to change a 
$10 bill. It was a Treasury note of 1890, but on ex¬ 
amination the paper did not show the silk threads 
which are plainly seen ■when holding good money up 
to the light. For the defect in the paper the bill was 
rejected as a counterfeit, but the first party still 
claims that it is perfectly good. In order to settle the 
matter we wrote to the Treasury Department and re¬ 
ceive the following reply: 
You are informed that when the Treasury notes of the 
Act of 1890 were first printed the distinctive feature of 
the paper then in use consisted of silk threads running 
parallel with the long measurement of the notes. This 
distinctive feature was changed July 30, 1891, since which 
date it has consisted of two bands of distributed silk 
fiber so placed in the paper as to appear on either side 
of the center vignette of the notes. Tf you examine the 
ten-dollar Treasury note which you have and do not find 
that either of these distinctive features is present, the 
note is, no doubt, counterfeit, and it should be forwarded 
to the Treasurer of the United States for cancellation. 
You might present it at the Sub-Treasury in New York 
before taking this action. h. w. taylor. 
Assistant Secretary. 
In examining other bills we find that these small 
threads are at first hard to discover, especially on 
bills that have been in use long. 
* 
Fruit growers in New Jersey are especially stirred 
up over the depredations of the robins. These birds 
steal a vast amount of fruit, and in some places are 
becoming so numerous that they threaten to drive 
fruit growers out of business. A Connecticut friend 
who has been through New Jersey has this to say 
about our remarks on page 8: 
A State ornithologist should be appointed (just as we 
have a State pomologist here in Connecticut) whose first 
principal business it shall be, as rapidly and thoroughly 
as he can, to tabulate exact data on the contents of the 
crop of every bird about which there is any question; 
being particular to cover, just as you. say, different loca¬ 
tions, environments, seasons and every modifying cir¬ 
cumstance. Our present ignorance of exact fact of the 
relative good and bad feeding of any bird is ridiculous. 
A fruit grower will &ay to this, “I do not need any 
State ornithologist to tell me that the robin is a rob¬ 
ber!” That is true enough, but in order to remedy 
the evil we must convince a lot of people who have 
only a sentimental idea of the robin and his work. 
You cannot get these people to take any interest in 
your troubles until you can convince them with facts 
and figures. They might not accept your statements 
direct, but as part of an official report they would 
strike harder. We think such a State officer, if he 
attended to his business, would be a real help to fruit 
growers. 
BREVITIES. 
Mr. Weed touches up the pecan frauds. 
Jaw-fest is the western name for a scolding match. 
Read the article on potato prices under market notes. 
Think of it—it is nearly time to start the hotbeds 
again! 
Unhappy the farmer who did not haul his wood before 
the great stcim. 
Wiiy, yes—a tree agent may be a gentleman if his heart 
and his tree are both right. 
Who tried painting trees with white lead and oil to 
keep off rabbits? How did it come out? 
First class in chemistry. Rub charcoal on the white 
ox and what do you have? Carbon dye ox hide. 
Many good peach growers think the buds will pull 
through, as they were very dry when the frost struck 
them. Let’s hope so! 
Jack Frost is an educator. When he breaks down the 
water supply he shows you what a shrinking creature 
the honest old cow is. 
If you expect to use fertilizer this year, put some ni¬ 
trogen into your plans and quicken them up. Don’t wait 
until the last moment. 
Report is that Lou Dillon, the famous trotter, eats no 
hay but barley cut in the milk stage and baled. It is 
brought from California. 
Wiiat can be said about the lime and sulphur spraying 
wash made with caustic soda without boiling? It seems 
to give good satisfaction, except that it does not stick 
quite as well as the boiled mixture. 
“Are the lower animals really alive?” asks an editorial 
writer in a New York daily paper. Did he ever try to 
brush a fly from a mule’s hind leg, or interview the in¬ 
habitants of a populous yellow jackets’ nest? 
Have you made up your mind what fruit trees you 
are to plant? What a mistake it will be to wait until 
you are ready to plant before deciding varieties! You 
will run far more risk of “substitution" if you wait. 
