6o8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 13, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert W. Collingwooii, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, i . . . _ 
Mrs. E. T. Koylk, ^Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Tostal Union. $3.04, 
equal to 8s. (id., or 8M> 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 col¬ 
umns, 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 tlie complaint must be sent to u's within one 
month of the time of the transaction, and you must have 
mentioned The Rural New-Yorker when writing the adver¬ 
tiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance 
is for, should appear In every letter. 
Remittances may he made in money order, express order, 
personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY. AUGUST 13, 1904. 
THE PRIZE CUPPINGS. 
This week the first prize goes to New York, the sec¬ 
ond to Pennsylvania and the third to Minnesota, as 
follows: 
Mrs. Herbert Grant, Oneida Co., N. Y. 
John Larkin, Montgomery Co., Pa. 
J. M. Drew. Hennepin Co., Minn. 
We still offer weekly prizes of $1.50, $1 and 50 cents 
for the best clippings from local papers. 
* 
During the 12 months ending June 1 $13,479,432 worth 
of oleo and oleo oil were exported from this country. 
Holland alone took $7,912,426 worth. These total ex¬ 
ports were $1,000,000 more than in the previous year. 
The export value of the oleo was given at 10 cents a 
pound. 
* 
' Wf. sent a claim against an advertiser to a lawyer 
for collection. He lives in the same town with the 
advertiser, and in making his report of “no good” add?: 
“You might mention that farmers are not the only peo¬ 
ple that ‘get trimmed.’ ” That is true. Some of the 
shrewdest people on earth, who ought to know better if 
anyone does, are caught by the most transparent bait. 
No, indeed; farmers are not the only people who get 
“trimmed.” If we had the money that city people have 
wasted over fool bargains we could make the National 
debt look smaller than 30 per cent! 
* 
What has become of the farm departments which the 
great dailies were to issue? The theory was that free 
rural delivery has put the daily paper within reach of 
thousands of farmers. By devoting two or three col¬ 
umns each day to farm matters it was expected that 
these dailies could put the legitimate farm papers out of 
business. The theory will not work. One paper, at 
least, tried the plan—and gave it up. The large dailies 
will find that the business oi conducting an agricultural 
paper is in a class by itself—too big a class to be mixed. 
* 
It is worth noting that in England the Great Eastern 
Railway has made a special cheap rate for the carriage 
of parcels of produce from the country to London, deliv¬ 
ering the same free of extra charge within a five-mile 
ra’dius. During the first six months of the present year 
this railway carried 94,000 of such parcels, an increase 
of 3,000 over the same period last year. It would be 
hard to reckon the benefit given by thus putting the 
farmer or gardener in close touch with the consumer. 
We should like to hear of an American railway showing 
similar consideration, but as yet this beatific vision does 
not seem very near. 
* 
How people laughed when, a dozen years ago, the 
scientific men began to talk seriously of driving the 
mosquitoes away from a community! The job seemed 
too large to be considered by those whose idea of killing 
consisted in slapping at the insect when it drew blood. 
The scientific men knew that the insect would not 
breed if all stagnant pools could be drained and that a 
film of oil on the surface of water will destroy all the 
young insects found there. Education has gone on along 
this line until great tracts ot land have been drained and 
oiled and made free from the pest. Land that was for¬ 
merly worth nothing has been given solid value by rid¬ 
ding it of mosquitoes. In some places laws have been 
passed which forbid a land owner to leave a mosquito¬ 
breeding hole on his premises. We expect to see, within 
the next 10 years, much the same warfare waged against 
house flies. These pests breed chiefly in horse manure. 
Prof. L. O. Howard found nearly 1,400 young flies in a 
single pound of such manure at the middle of the pile! 
While the flies may breed in some other substances they 
will do so only in a small way, and if horse manure is 
kept inside of wire-screened rooms or sterilized with 
chloride of lime the flies will not become a nuisance. 
When people, in city or in country, understand this the 
house fly will be banished. 
* 
As stated on page 576 we have what we consider 
ample proof that the wire from which wire fences are 
made is not as durable as that furnished before the trust 
obtained control of the manufacturing. The wire itself 
may be as good as ever, but the galvanizing is inferior, 
so that the average life of the fence is shorter. In order 
to make the story complete we would like to have 
readers tell us how long their wire fences remain ser¬ 
viceable. Tell us where your farm is located, whether 
near the sea, near coal fields or in damp places, and how 
long the galvanizing lasts. Such information will help 
us all. We want to present the facts in such a way that 
the trust will be forced to give the public better wire! 
* 
New York State savings banks are prosperous. In 
some cases the rate of interest has been raised from 3J4 
to four percent. During the year ending July 1 there was 
an increase of $54,672,892 in depositors’ accounts, nearly 
79,000 new accounts being opened. The speculation 
craze of two or three years ago took large sums from 
the savings banks. Many drew out every cent to put 
into stocks, and most of these saw their savings dwindle 
as the stock market declined until it seemed as though 
there was no bottom. The natural result was a reaction 
to investments which made no glowing offers of high 
interest rates, but were practically safe. This accounts 
for part of the increase in savings bank business. For 
those who wish to salt down a little money so that it 
will stay salted there is nothing better than a savings 
bank account or life insurance policy of some form. 
* 
One of our gardening friends says that after testing 
a variety of culinary peas he has settled upon three 
kinds only—American Wonder, McLean’s Advancer 
and the old Champion of England. He sows all three 
at the same time, repeating the sowings at intervals of 
about 10 days, until the season is covered. This insures 
a perfect succession. The most striking thing about 
his choice is that he has been growing Champion of 
England now for 36 years, and still asserts it is the very 
best late pea for his purpose. Think of all the improved 
peas offered in that time, yet this old favorite still holds 
high rank among growers who want delicacy and sweet¬ 
ness of flavor. We sometimes hear people say that with 
the many new fruits, flowers and vegetables coming out 
the older sorts, however excellent, must retire. Yet 
we continue to grow Early Rose potatoes, Champion 
peas and Jacqueminot roses, in spite of all the claims 
of their young rivals. Perhaps there is some comfort 
here for the man who fears a younger generation may 
thrust him aside as a ' back number.” 
* 
A farmer went to a certain State capital to see his 
representative. The latter wanted to do the honors, 
and so asked the farmer to have some “refreshments.” 
They went down into the basement of the Capitol to a 
well furnished room where a waiter served them. The 
farmer was informed that he could have a bottle of wine 
or anything he wanted. No one paid for the treat, and 
on the way up in the elevator the farmer asked: 
“Who pays for all. this?” 
“Oh, the bill clerk, of course.” 
“What salary does the bill clerk draw?” 
“About $800.” 
“How can he pay for all this rum out of that?” 
“Well, you see, we lay aside a sum of money to cover 
emergencies—and this is an emergency.” 
All such little schemes are provided so that a member 
may “get solid” with visitors from his home district. 
Every “emergency” must be handled at once. When 
people understand what a farce some features of their 
Legislature are they will give it a cleaning that will take 
parts of the skin off. 
♦ 
During the 12 months ending June 1 this country ex¬ 
ported $20,678,665 worth of fruit against $8,719,344 worth 
in 1902. Of this great quantity $8,237,894 worth were 
apples—green and dried. 1 o show how the export trade 
in fruit is developing we may compare it with other 
export figures as follows: 
Export of fruit for one year. 
Export of agricultural implements 
Export of corn . 
Export of wheat . 
Export of anthracite coal . 
Export of cotton cloth . 
Export of leather . 
Export of fresh beef . 
$20,678,665 
22,749,635 
30,071,334 
35,850,318 
10,097,808 
14,696,199 
17,8.73,085 
26,841,586 
This brief list shows that our foreign trade in fruit 
is beginning to take rank among the leading articles 
of export. It is already far ahead of most manufac¬ 
tured articles, and is the only product in which there 
seems to be a chance for great and rapid increase of 
trade. I he European demand for American apples is 
sure to increase rapidly, and we have every confidence 
that within 10 years our exports of fruits will exceed 
in value those of either wheat or corn. Tariffs or com¬ 
mercial treaties have little or nothing to do with this 
increase of trade, except such laws as attempt to stop 
the introduction of insect pests or fungus diseases. It 
is a clear-cut demand for the acid that is packed around 
the heart of an American apple. By all means let us 
encourage that European Branch of the Apple Con¬ 
sumers’ League. 
* 
The United States Geological Survey states that in 
1903 there were produced in this country 359,421,311 
tons of coal valued at $506,190,733. We presume this 
was the value at the mines, for by the time it reached the 
consumer it cost nearly three times as much! In order 
to give an idea of the bulk of this enormous quantity of 
coal the director of the Survey says: 
If the entire production were loaded on freight cars with 
a capacity of 30 tons each, the trains containing it would 
encircle the globe at the Equator about three and one-third 
times. If the entire production were loaded on freight cars 
in one day, the trains wmuld occupy one-quarter of the entire 
railway trackage of the United States. Taking an average 
of 30 cars to a train, it would require 16 times as many 
freight locomotives as there are in the United States to move 
this tonnage in one day. If spread over the surface of Man¬ 
hattan Island, which has an area of 22 square miles, the 
entire island would be covered to a depth of nearly 25 feet. 
A hole in the coal bin on a fierce Winter day does 
look large. As another study in bulk let us consider 
the following: If every man, woman and child in the 
country were to eat two good apples eacn day we should 
need about 160,000,000 barrels to supply the demand. It 
would require 1,000,000 cars to haul them, which would 
make a train over 7,500 miles long. If the apples were 
spread out side by side they would cover 346,500 square 
acres. 
* 
Last year fruit growers in New Jersey tried to obtain 
permission to protect their crops against robins. They 
did not demand a general slaughter of the birds, but the 
right to shoot them when caught stealing fruit. The 
Legislature refused their request, chiefly because the 
other side presented petitions against the bill with thou¬ 
sands of signatures. It now comes out that a large 
proportion of these signatures were written by children 
from eight to 12 years old! The New Jersey growers 
are not discouraged, but will go at the Legislature 
again. We call attention to the following sensible letter 
from a fruit grower and close student of farming: 
As a consistent and persistent bird-lover from early child¬ 
hood I am glad you printed intact the letter of E. Hollen¬ 
beck, on page 575, which he wrote in defence of the robin, 
but somehow we don't like the looks of it as it appears in 
cold type, nor the taste of the dose as.we try to take it in. 
I am free to confess that the offer of a previous correspond¬ 
ent of $1 apiece to every law-breaker who shoots robins 
struck me about as unpleasantly. Nothing is to be gained 
by intemperate language on either side. The fact is that in 
some sections the robin has become a pest that has made 
the growing of cherries wellnigh impossible, and if the evil 
increases it may become necessary to put the bird in tlie 
same undesirable class as the English sparrow in order to at 
least lessen their numbers. 1 have heard of a case where 
by foreclosure two age.d unmarried ladies lost their little 
place because for several years in succession the robins took 
their entire crop of cherries. Your reply to Mr. Hollenbeck 
commends itself to every fair-minded reader. 
Those who use violent and ill-tempered abuse for 
an argument may convince themselves, but in the end 
surely injure their cause. 
BREVITIES. 
Tucked away in cellar and cool places are thousands of 
eggs in water glass. When you take them out tell us how 
they behave. 
Regarding the control of plant lice on apples and melons, 
Mr. Buckman is right when he says we must first control the 
ants that herd the lice. 
“Briquettes” are made of coaidust, oil, sawdust, etc., 
mixed into a plaster and then pressed into blocks. They 
make hot fires and are cheap. 
Inventor Holland says that within five years thoroughly 
practical airships will be offered for $10 apiece. We begin 
to think that Mr. Holland is a bird. 
A FRIEND who once undertook to milk a range cow, some¬ 
where back of Kamloops, B. (J., says he has never been able 
to regard milking as a sedentary occupation since. 
A Pennsylvania man has acquired fame by consuming 11 
glasses of buttermilk in 45 seconds, and still remaining 
thirsty, thus distancing a competitor who required 90 sec¬ 
onds to imbibe the same quantity. 
Miss Robbins is right in saying, on page 603, that the 
question of hired help is even more serious for her than for 
a man. We read recently of a woman farmer in this State 
who married after a half hour's acquaintance because she 
saw no other way of acquiring a permanent hired man. 
You lose your potato crop through no fault of yours, and 
the loss hunts you. You speak of it, and some campaign 
orator tells you: “The potato crop is all right; the figures 
show that the average acre of potatoes brought $80 !” If 
there is anything that jars a farmer it is to hear these 
"average” figures fired at him. They mean nothing, and 
prove nothing. 
