928 
December 31, 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established i 860 . 
Herbert W Collingwood, Editor. 
Hr. Walter Van Fleet. | , 
Mrs. E. T. Koylk, ( Associates. 
John J. Billon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. 6d., or 8j4 marks or 10 J / 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 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 the complaint must be sent to us within one 
monlh of the time of the transaction, and you must have 
mentioned Tiie 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 be made in money order, express order, 
personal check or bank draft. 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1904. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to introduce The R. N.-Y. to progressive 
intelligent farmers who do not now take it, we send it 
10 weeks for 10 cents for strictly introductory purposes. 
We depend on our old friends to make this known to 
neighbors and friends. 
♦ 
Will those who have shipped produce to commission 
men please send us a few commission returns? We 
would like average statements. Our object is to average 
a large number of such returns, and show what per cent 
of the wholesale price the producer actually receives. 
* 
Various parties are offering for sale the “cultures” 
for inoculating crops like clover, beans and Alfalfa.- 
J hese cultures all come originally from the Department 
of Agriculture, and there is probably nothing new about 
the method of preparing them. The Department sent 
small quantities for experiment purposes only. Private 
parties offer much the same thing for sale. 
* 
The value of a fertilizer does not consist of a page 
of testimonials, no matter how long or how well they 
are written up, nor in the persuasive tongue of a fer¬ 
tilizer agent, no matter how well dressed he appears, or 
how funny his stories, or how good are tjie cigars he 
offers you, that somejjpdy w|ip bought his fertilizer paid 
for. 1 he value does consist in the amount and 
source of available nitrogen, phosphoric acid and pot¬ 
ash. See that you get these derived from the best 
sources, and in such amounts that they will feed the 
plant from seed to harvest. It will pay you to study 
up the fertilizer question to find out some of these 
things, and see if you get what you want. 
* 
The distribution of “The Business Hen” reveals some 
pleasant things. The good old hen retains her hold 
upon the affections of country people. She is often 
neglected and forced to shift for herself, but she stays 
by and gives better returns for a little care than any 
other live stock on the farm. The book has started a 
flood of interesting comment. One man declares that 
his hens gave a profit of $6 each! Another bought a 
sitting of high-priced eggs, and declares that his three 
pullets cost $8.05! One man's hens paid the mortgage 
on his farm, while another writes that “between thieves 
and roup, we lost 1,200 hens and 3,000 chickens!” Thus 
we see that the hen business is by no means one-sided. 
We judge that the hen is providing for an army of peo¬ 
ple who lack the strength to care for larger stock. 
Readers seem to appreciate the fact that “The Business 
Hen tells no big stories, and neither crows nor 
cackles about itself. 
* 
Few communities tolerate such general abuse of horses 
as New York City, particularly in the congested mercan¬ 
tile portions of lower Manhattan. The tremendous 
volume of traffic and contracted form of the Island ex¬ 
plain to some extent the persistent heavy loading of 
teams. In good weather and with dry footing, a team 
can make fair progress even with an abnormally heavy 
load, but when the streets are slippery with ice or 
blockaded with snow the condition of overloaded teams 
is pitiable in the extreme. As a rule the horses are 
well fed, and the drivers are often as considerate as 
circumstances and the imperative demands of their 
employers will admit. They are inclined to be merci¬ 
ful, but are under the necessity of moving quickly, even 
under outrageous conditions, any load their foreman 
or superintendent may direct. The results are appalling 
to sympathetic humans, and if the responsibility could 
always be rightly placed the worst abuses would soon 
be stopped, but individuals dislike to initiate prosecu¬ 
tions against drivers who really may not be to blame. 
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 
has extraordinary powers delegated from the State. It 
has impressive offices and a revenue, last year, of 
$200,000, but as managed seems unable to control this 
open abuse. Last year, with this great income, only 12 
inspectors were kept on duty in the business district of 
New York, and this trifling number is, of course totally 
inadequate to cover the great territory. Conditions do 
not seem to better with time. The failure of the S. P. 
C. A. to meet the expectations of its contributors is 
only another instance of the futility of delegating public 
duties to private bodies, however philanthropic their 
aims may appear. 
* 
According to newspaper reports, Luther Burbank, the 
“Wizard of horticulture,” has now produced a flower, 
which, when cut, neither fades nor loses its odor. It 
is said that these permanent blossoms may work a revo¬ 
lution in millinery, as they can be used in place of arti¬ 
ficial blooms. It is hoped that Mr. Burbank will experi¬ 
ment still further, and produce a plant that will not stop 
at mere frivolous adornments, but will blossom into 
a full crop of Winter clothes. We have all heard of 
the small girl who, on first introduction to a rubber 
plant, persisted in regarding it as an imposter because 
there was no visible crop of rubbers. How, then, can 
we look with respect upon a millinery plant that re¬ 
fuses to blossom into bonnets? 
* 
1903 . 
1 he R. N.-Y. for 1905 will be what it has been for 
the last 50 years, with true and solid growth added. 
A well-balanced fertilizer should contain fair amounts 
of nitrogerp phosphoric acid and potash—not too much 
of either and enough of each. In a paper personal en¬ 
ergy represents the nitrogen, thought and study the 
phosphoric acid, and common sense the potash. We 
shall do our best with the help of readers to mix these 
elements in the best way. We have no detailed state¬ 
ment of what will be printed—if there is any particu¬ 
lar thing you want to know tell us, and we will get you 
the information if anybody can. We say frankly that 
we need you for 1905. We hope to make The R. N-Y. 
so useful that you will say the same of us. 
* 
A good friend in Connecticut comes forward with this 
note: 
Kindly step in the shafts and pull one rural Connectieutian 
over to the end of 1905, and he sure to set “The Business Hen" 
on him from behind in her best dress, so she can be egging 
him on. Lest you forget, I enclose a gentle reminder worth 
100 cents on the dollar. Don't foiget your humble servant 
when you next shake hands with Uncle Sam. I hope you 
will receive as many walking tickets of this kind as will 
enable you to keep always at the head of the procession. 
Such a shaft makes the burden light—especially with 
the Business Hen to help pull it! She occupies a busy 
nest at present. We are receiving so many “walking 
tickets” that our subscription list is on the run, so that 
talk about heading the procession is by no means an 
idle tale. 
* 
A few years ago there was a shout of protest and ridi¬ 
cule when we discussed the grass-mulch method of 
caring for fruit orchards. There is less of it now. Peo¬ 
ple begin to understand why it is talked about. Some 
readers see an article in a paper and conclude that it 
is simply an argument for some new and to their minds 
foolish practice. After a time they see it is not meant 
for an argument so much as the opening of a discussion. 
If the proposition is foolish they can beat it down. If 
it has merit the truth about it will prevail. We have 
always considered it far better to open these things to 
the fullest discussion rather than to work along with the 
prevailing and popular opinion. We have the utmost 
confidence that in the end our readers will get the right 
of the discussion. As for the grass-mulch matter, the 
experiment stations have taken hold of it, and we can 
safely leave it to them to measure its limitations. 
* 
The talk about poor fence wire has had the effect 
of stirring up thousands of fanners. No one questions 
the statements about the wire. Wherever we go we.find 
the same story—inferior wire and a failure to under¬ 
stand why it will not endure like that bought a dozen 
years ago. Various opinions are offered as to what 
ought to be done about it. The Practical Farmer does 
not see what the experiment stations can do: 
What the stations could demonstrate in regard to the wire 
on the market more than anyone else we cannot imagine. 
The remedy for all such things lies in the enforcement of the 
laws against combinations that interfere with business, and 
a competition that would put bad wire or bad manufactures 
of any kind below a really good article. If the wire is bad 
it is easy to prove It so in court. There is hardly an article 
made and sold in which there are not some who put an in¬ 
ferior article on the market, but there would be little real 
investigation in agricultural problems if the stations are 
to be required to spend their time hunting rogues. 
As Prof. Massey is an experiment station man, we 
will assume that this view is taken by those who con¬ 
trol these institutions. What the stations could do if 
they wanted to seems very clear to us. We have a 
friend who has agreed to furnish samples of the various 
fences and wires offered for sale—both new and after 
use for a few years. He will also furnish samples of 
the old-fashioned wire which has given good satisfac¬ 
tion. Now, why could not a good chemist take these 
samples, and by means of analysis tell us why and how 
the inferior wires are different from the old one? If 
one is good for 12 years and the other fails in 5 years 
would not the difference in metals or in the galvaniz¬ 
ing represent the difference in service or durability? 
\\ e think so, and we do not see how farmers can buy 
fence wire intelligently until they know just what 
good wire should be made of. In fact, how can Prof. 
Massey prove that “wire is bad” in court without a 
chemist to show the difference between good wire and 
bad? If the stations are not to do this necessary work, 
where can it be done? We have not yet found anyone 
who when pinned down will deny that it is impossible 
to demand a guarantee from a wire manufacturer un¬ 
til we know what to demand. It is possible that such 
an investigation would require special training in chem¬ 
istry—out of the line of the average agricultural chemist. 
V hether that is true or not, we insist that there is 
gi eater need of investigation of fence wire than of any 
other class of goods that the average farmer buys. 
There are evidently plenty of chemists working to make 
cheap wire that will sell. It is time we had a few to 
show us how to buy good wire. If our stations cannot 
or will not do this who is to do so? Some weeks ago 
a reader in Illinois said he knew of at least one firm 
wffio would guarantee iron wire. Now' we hear from 
him again: 
I fear when I caused you to write to a certain firm as 
manufacturers of genuine iron wire fence, I sent you on a 
fool’s errand. The traveling agent of that company was 
here yesterday, and when pinned down to a guarantee or no 
sale he kicked clear over the traces, but came down straight 
in the harness, by admitting that while they sold their fence 
as iron really it was a very superior quality of soft steel. 
He also admitted that it was not as good as genuine iron, 
but that *it was so much better than the steel in other fences 
they had no compunctions of conscience in calling it iron. 
So it goes. Possibly the other address I gave you may turn 
out no better. But “lay on, Macduff,” until we get what we 
want. Sincerely yours in the fight you are waging against 
rotten fences. A w F 
We should like to hear from any manufacturer who 
w ill guarantee iion wure, any wire fence maker who will 
guarantee his fence for 30 years or give a good reason 
for not doing so, or any experiment station director who 
will name any line of investigation now under way at 
his station that is of more general importance to far¬ 
mers than this question of rotten fence wire. Now, 
gentlemen—there’s your chance for fame! 
BREVITIES. 
Tobacco growers believe in lime. 
Full stocking—empty poeketbook. 
Let mercy be tempered with justice. 
Read Prof. Sanborn’s article on New England farming— 
page 923. 
The tuberculosis question is coming up in New York State 
once more. 
When does broom corn grow into a palm? When the 
broom is well used. 
Does fumigation injure young trees? This question will 
be thoroughly discussed next week. 
Flour at Si.45 a barrel makes the man on salary wonder 
when the great wave of National prosperity is going to strike 
h i in. 
Tuberculosis in calves, as the result of feeding factory 
milk, seems a good argument in favor of separating the milk 
at home. 
A Pennsylvania court lias decided that, legally, a chicken 
is not an animal. This may be intended to support the 
decision of the Treasury Department that the frog is a bird. 
Here is a sample from Connecticut: “Enclosed find one 
dollar, for which continue The R. N.-Y. for 1905, and send 
•The Business Hen’ at once, as we want to get her at work 
at once; also cuss the wire fence men for me.” 
Here is the first report from water glass eggs: “We are 
using eggs that we have kept in water glass solution since 
last May, and find them entirely satisfactory. This is our 
first trial and we shall certainly repeat it on a larger scale 
next season.” 
All through New England and some other Eastern States 
a serious drought has occurred. The ground was frozen be¬ 
fore the wells and springs were filled. In some places this 
interferes seriously with watering live stock, and no relief 
is in sight before Spring. 
Almost every writer on sheep farming complains that the 
industry, as well as the sheep, is killed by worthless dogs, 
and that there is practically no redress. Is this difficulty as 
great in Europe? Does the dog possess more privileges than 
the sheep in foreign countries as here? 
A modern Aladdin has been visiting suburban districts, 
offering to exchange costly jewels for old rubbers. lie has 
induced a good many children to “swap” the family supply 
of gum shoes for a display of lamp chimney diamonds, and 
is finding the business profitable, for commercial rubber is 
high in price, and partly-worn overshoes are worth money. 
