i96 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 5 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TEE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAFEB. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, I . 
Mrs. E. T. Royle, ^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& 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 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 
erder, personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street. New York. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1904. 
It will pay readers to look over the advertisements 
in this issue. Good use can be made of them. Any 
farmer can well afford to study a dozen or more of 
the catalogues issued by those who offer goods suit¬ 
able for farmers. Few people appreciate the labor 
and care required to prepare a good catalogue. Many 
of us can remember the time when a catalogue re¬ 
sembled a tin horn through which a seedsman could 
blow his own praises. Time and growth of public 
sentiment have changed this, so that now most of the 
catalogues are educational, and well worth a careful 
study. When you send for them you will do us a 
favor by mentioning The R. N.-Y. 
* 
We give considerable space to the lime and sulphur 
sprays. We believe that some combination of sul¬ 
phur and lime is at present the most effective weapon 
to use against the San Josd scale. It is a spray for 
dormant trees, and should be used before the leaves 
appear. Prof. Britton tells us on page 174 how this 
wash kills the insects, and this information shows us 
how the spray should be put on. Where one has only 
a few trees we believe the simple combination of 
“liver of sulphur” and lime is best to use. It costs 
more than the other mixtures, but is easy to mix and 
easy to spray. The entomologists will give us cheap¬ 
er and better mixtures in time, for they are experi¬ 
menting with all sorts of substances. We think that 
some mixture of lime and sulphur will come about as 
near to being a “cure-all” as the wise men are likely 
to find. 
* 
Tiee rich man who endows a flourishing college 
with an odd million or two may do much for educa¬ 
tion, but it it doubtful whether there is as great a re¬ 
turn for the money invested as in the backwoods 
schoolhouse, whose scholars feel that knowledge is 
more to them than much fine gold. A friend who is 
interested in establishing schools among the south¬ 
ern mountaineers tells of a boy who came to one of 
these schools leading a half-grown lamb. On being 
invited in, he asked the teacher: “Is this where you 
sell learning?” Being answered in the affirmative, he 
responded: “I want you to take this lamb, and give 
me a lamb’s worth of learning.” It is in the face of 
such examples that we realize how much more must 
yet be done, for popular education. The boy who 
would sacrifice his lamb on the altar of learning 
ought to be given more than a living chance. If the 
State is unable to supply his demands, private benevo¬ 
lence should see that his hungry mind does not go 
unsatisfied. 
* 
A friend just back from the West tells great 
stories of the rich farm lands in southern Wisconsin. 
Here are tracts of land which the early settlers 
bought at $1.25 an acre. For 50 years and more the 
land has supported them and enabled them to lay 
aside a competence. Now it is worth $125 an acre, 
with the value measured by the ability of the soil to 
produce farm crops. What other form of property 
could be made to support a family, lay aside a bank 
account—all out of its original resources—and then 
after 50 years be worth 100 times what it cost? What 
can do this beside good land? Well, what the western 
farmer would call poor land will come about as close 
to it as anything. Such rough, hilly land as Mr. 
Walker describes this week is well adapted to fruit 
grow’ng. It would not seem attractive to a western 
farmer, with its stones and its steep hillsides, yet to 
those who know how to handle it such land may be 
made to produce an income that would startle a west¬ 
ern farmer. When a man takes an old farm which 
has been thrown out of cultivation by others and 
brings it back to profit and power he surely does as 
much for his country as he who takes rich land and 
maintains its fertility! We shall print during the, 
season statements of actual returns from small farms 
of naturally poor soil. They will show what horti¬ 
culture will enable a capable and lively man to do. 
* 
On page 146 we referred to an address said to have 
been delivered by Dr. H. J. Webber, of the United 
States Department of Agriculture. It seemed hard 
to believe that Dr. Webber would make such ridicu¬ 
lous statements about the “ignorance” of farmers, 
and we are not surprised to have him stamp them as 
entirely false. He writes us that he never said what 
the reporter put in his mouth, and his audience can 
prove it. In their efforts to “boil down” the reporters 
have spoiled many a man’s reputation for common 
sense or honesty. We are glad to set Dr. Webber 
right before our readers. 
* 
Much has been published concerning hydrocyanic 
acid gas fumigation for orchard-tree insect pests. The 
method of fumigating young and bearing fruit trees 
of various species by the use of tents of proper size 
has long been practiced in California, Florida and 
many localities in Australasia, at times with very 
profitable results. However valuable it may be for 
Citrus and other high-priced fruits growing on low, 
compactly-headed trees, it does not appear practicable 
for our large northern orchard trees. Hydrocyanic 
gas is undoubtedly of value in treating dormant nur¬ 
sery stock for scales and other difficult insects, and 
its use for ridding glasshouse structures of many in¬ 
sect pests is steadily increasing, but it will probably 
be necessary to breed varieties of orchard fruits with 
more compact habit than those now grown before 
orchard gas fumigation can be profitably used in the 
North. The steady improvement in spraying appli¬ 
ances and materials offers a more hopeful means of 
combating insect pests at the present time. 
* 
When the American Apple Consumers’ League was 
organized we did not consider the chances for moral 
reform. The League was intended to increase the de¬ 
mand for apples, and it is safe to say that it has in¬ 
creased the hotel and restaurant trade by 25 per cent. 
We have no statistics to show how the increased con¬ 
sumption of apples has cut down the demand for pat¬ 
ent medicines and pills, but it has done something 
along this line. As a practical temperance argument 
the apple is coming to the front. Some months ago 
we asked if anyone could tell of a heavy drinker of 
liquor who was at the same time a hearty eater of 
apples. We feel very sure that the two habits do not 
go together. Among other responses to this question 
we have the following statement. A man quite wide¬ 
ly known was a heavy drinker. He realized that he 
was going too far and made an effort to stop. Drink¬ 
ing men know what this means after years of indul¬ 
gence. This man read the statement in Tiie R. N.-Y. 
about apples and the drink habit, and began to eat 
apples—an average of five good ones a day. He tells 
us that he lost all craving for the liquor, and now 
does not care for it, while he keeps up the apple eat¬ 
ing. We give this actual case. It tallies with our 
own observation among drinking men, and gives an¬ 
other good reason why the apple-eating habit ought 
to spread. 
* 
We have been told by good farmers that some years 
ago in parts of western New York the Baldwin apple 
was not considered fit for home eating. It was sold, 
but for their own use farmers seldom put it in the 
cellar. At that time the Baldwin trees did not thrive 
as they should. The leaves dropped early, and while 
the fruit was fair and of good size it lacked quality. 
Then the farmers began to spray thoroughly with 
Bordeaux Mixture. At first many of them doubted 
the value of it, but they kept it up. They noticed 
among other things that the leaves on the Baldwins 
hung on later—stuck to the tree until frost ended 
them. Then the flavor of Baldwin improved, until 
now it ranks with Northern Spy as a home variety. 
Naturally the credit for this improvement is given to 
the Bordeaux because it enabled the trees to hold 
their foliage longer through the Fall. What connec¬ 
tion can there be between good foliage and quality? 
Everything! The starch, sugars and similar foods 
are all manufactured in the green leaves, and there 
will be more or less of them as the foliage is full or 
thin. Experiments have been made in Vermont with 
Sugar maples which clearly prove this. In years 
when the Forest worm cuts off the leaves the sap of 
the following season always carries less sugar. Trees 
with an average large leaf area gave a sap containing 
4V 2 per cent of sugar, while trees with small leaf area 
gave sap with but little over two per cent. The foliage 
of our orchard trees must be kept green and thrifty 
if we expect good-quality fruit. 
You have already discovered something unusual in 
this issue of The R. N.-Y. We do not indulge often 
in special numbers. We prefer to give 52 issues oi 
strong varied matter, following the seasons through. 
Seven years ago, however, we originated the special 
Horticultural Number, reviewing the horticultural 
catalogues and devoting the remainder of the paper 
to kindred subjects. The first of these special issues 
had 16 pages; this one has 36. If you compare this 
number with the former special issues you will ap¬ 
preciate the development and improvement. While 
to the casual observer the handsome cover is perhaps 
the most striking feature, the wealth of information 
and illustrations within will appeal most strongly to 
the practical man who makes a business of his farm 
work. In planning for 36 pages we thought to pro¬ 
vide amply for advertising as well as editorial space, 
but even at this we were unable to find room for all. 
We are familiar with the standing of every advertiser 
in the paper. They are, as far as we can know, reli¬ 
able and responsible and will give a full dollar’s 
worth in return for every dollar sent them. When you 
write any of them mention this special number of 
The R. N.-Y. We have spared no labor and no ex¬ 
pense to make this number worthy of the horticul¬ 
tural interests of the country, and we feel that you, 
as subscribers and advertisers, must share in the 
pride that every man connected with horticulture 
must feel in a publication that does justice and credit 
to his profession. 
* 
Farmers are calling for something better than 
Bordeaux Mixture as a remedy for plant diseases. 
They also want a better poison than Paris-green. 
While the scientists say publicly that Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture is the best fungicide we are likely to get, they 
are, we feel sure, working hard at several combina¬ 
tions. They want to help us, and they are wise not to 
say too much about their work until they are sure of 
something. In the meantime it is true that some 
failures with Bordeaux are due to the fact that the 
mixture was not properly made. We shall print soon 
what we believe to be the clearest statement about 
the making Bordeaux Mixture that has ever been 
put on paper. 
* 
Of all the misleading yarns likely to be dissemi¬ 
nated by irrepressible tree agents during the coming 
Spring campaign the claim that the severe cold of 
the past three months has killed out the San Jose 
scale will prove most dangerous. It has come to our 
knowledge that this statement is being made with in¬ 
creasing frequency. There is no truth in it. This 
scale is native to North China, where the Winters are 
as cold as we are ever likely to have them, and is 
fortified by nature to withstand, in its dormant 
stage, the most extreme temperatures endurable by 
the trees on which it lives. If a twig or branch is 
killed by frost all scales fixed on that portion will 
quickly die, as they cannot change their position, and 
are dependent on the moisture of living bark for their 
existence, but there is absolutely nothing to show that 
the scales can be killed by any degree of cold that 
spares the tissues of the plants on which they feed. 
If the tree lives the scale will probably pull through. 
It is easier to “freeze out” an inaccurate tree agent 
than this almost frost-proof scale. 
BREVITIES. 
Egyptian cotton can be grown in Arizona. 
An improved turnip may have “blood” in it. 
Read the article on root aphis and peach trees—page 189. 
The Hope Farm man will show some of his crow-bar 
hole trees next week. 
How could you make the directions for planting the 
rose clearer? Page 190. 
Mr. Barton prints a whole volume on starting early 
plants in less than a page. 
Who would think there are so many ways of putting 
tar on seed corn—page 179? 
Be sure the little folks learn how to graft this year. 
Let them try their hand on a few trees. 
Liver of sulphur knocks out the San Jose scale. Evi¬ 
dently the scale is not a liver in sulphur. 
If you think the lime and sulphur wash has no teeth 
to bite the scales, put a little of.it on your own skin! 
Water-glass for eggs—it will not make a rotten egg 
fresh. It holds the eggs as they are when put into the 
solution. 
Among others, the busy bee will refuse to vote for an¬ 
other term of Jack Frost. Listen to a beekeeper of 35 
years’ experience: “So far losses are over 75 per cent; 
starvation with honey or sugar syrup in the hive, the in¬ 
tense cold prevented moving to get it.” 
Whale-oil soap is not a remedy for plant diseases ex¬ 
cept injuries caused by scales, aphids or other sucking 
soft-bodied insects. It is a handy and reliable remedy 
for San Jos6 and other scales when thoroughly sprayed 
over the dormant trees in a solution of two pounds soap 
to each gallon of hot water. For aphids and insects on 
plants during growth use a spraying solution of two to 
four ounces soap to the gallon of water. It is of little 
use in fungus diseases, though the two-pound-to-the- 
gallon solution is probably caustic enough to kill some 
disease spores on dormant trees. 
