198 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
MarcU 16 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
E$tablUhed 1860 . 
Hbbbkbt W. Colungwood, Editor. 
Db. Waltbb Van Flket, | 
H. B. Van Deman, > Associates. 
Mbs. E. T. RoTiiE, ) 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 12.04, equal t« 
8s. 6d., or 8^ marks, or lOH 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 
udvertising in our columns, and any such swindler will be publicly 
exposed. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we do not guar¬ 
antee 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 us within one month of the time of the transaction, and 
you must have mentioned The Bubal New-Yobkbb 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, MARCH 16, 1901. 
No man should have charge of an experiment sta¬ 
tion, an agricultural college or any other instrument 
for agricultural education, who does his work simply 
for the money there is in it. Mighty little of an up¬ 
lifting force will ever get through the heart of a man 
who has sold out his life to the dollar! 
* 
We have many questions about the time and method 
for spraying fruit trees with crude petroleum for kill¬ 
ing the San Jos6 scale. Unless you know that the 
petroleum has been tested it is better to use it in a 
mechanical mixture with water. In this latitude we 
would defer spraying with petroleum until the latter 
part of March. It is well to look over the trees and 
spray any spots missed the first time. Unsprayed 
portions are easily seen, as the oil blackens the bark 
wherever it touches. It is well to get only enough 
oil on to cover, especially on the sunny side of the 
trunk, or the trees may sunscald. 
A 
The Grout anti-oleo bill failed to pass the Senate. 
We hoped it would go through, but other measures 
crowded it aside. What now? Surrender? Not by 
any means. He who suggests any such thing little 
understands the spirit and power of the American 
farmer. The bill will be brought up again at the next 
session of Congress, and pushed harder than ever— 
for its friends have learned much from the past cam¬ 
paign. Up and at ’em! Bring the guns to bear at 
once, and if possible prevent the appointment of ,1. W. 
Wadsworth as chairman of the House Agricultural 
Committee. 
As will be observed on page 187, the farme s who 
furnish milk for the Philadelphia market are organ¬ 
izing for battle. It is the old story—the middlemen 
try to get the highest possible price out of the con¬ 
sumer, and then pay the lowest possible price to the 
farmer. The cost of making milk has increased, but 
the cost of handling it is cheaper, if anything. While 
the retail price is eight cents per quart, the dealers 
propose to pay the farmer cents, and make him 
pay freight! Think of it, the man who pays all the 
expenses and takes all the risks of production must 
be satisfied with less than half the final price! No 
wonder these farmers are ready to fight for their 
rights against this injustice. 
“I ii.vvE jTist warmed up my pen with a letter to D. 
B. Henderson!” 
That chunk of information comes from a Massa¬ 
chusetts reader. How could he raise the temperature 
of his pen by dipping it in cold ink? He wrote hot 
words stating that in his opinion J. W. Wadsworth, 
of New York State, is not a fit man to represent the 
farmers as chairman of the House Committee on Agri¬ 
culture. He is not a true friend of agriculture. He 
now occupies the chair—let the farmers sit down on 
him! Hon. David B. Henderson, Washington, D. C., 
will appoint the successor to Mr. Wadsworth. Warm 
your pen with a letter to Mr. Henderson asking for a 
friend of the farmer. Fire a wad at Wadsworth! 
A 
A SOMEWHAT novel method of organizing a Grange 
was adopted in the town of Leslie, Mich., a few weeks 
ago. Several attempts had been made to get the peo¬ 
ple together, but the storm and weather prevented. 
It was found that it would be legal if they could or¬ 
ganize by telephone, rural telephones connecting the 
20 families interested, dues having been paid in ad¬ 
vance. An evening was agreed upon, and the general 
call (eight bells) was given, everyone answering at 
once, of course. The county deputy explained the pur¬ 
pose of the meeting, and all reported in favor of or¬ 
ganization by telephone. The roll of charter mem¬ 
bers was called, and all the officers were duly elected 
and necessary committees were appointed. It has 
been appropriately named “Telephone Grange.” In¬ 
cidentally, this illustrates the value of the rural tele¬ 
phone. It is said that 100 families are connected by 
telephone in that section. 
Hundreds of our readers have enj’oyed the bless¬ 
ings of a telephone for the first time this Winter. Dur¬ 
ing the wildest storms or in damp, sticky weather, 
when the mud was hub deep, they have been able to 
talk with friends or carry on their business at home. 
We are thankful that the speaking wire is stretching 
out across the valleys and over the hills. We wish 
that it might be carried to every lonely farmhouse in 
the land, for unmeasured blessing and benefit would 
result from thus binding the farm homes of this coun¬ 
try together. The first prize in our recent subscrip¬ 
tion contest was won by J. E. Allis, of Orleans Co., 
N. Y., and he used part of the money to put up a tele¬ 
phone in his house. The farmer will get “on the 
wire” yet! 
* 
We feel a degree of pride in our special number of 
The R. N.-Y. last week. It contained 24 pages with 
310 different advertisements, measuring a total of 644 
inches. Besides these we had orders for enough to fill 
one whole page in addition, which were left out, since 
we could not find room for them without encroaching 
on reading matter. Had we inserted them it would 
have made a total of just 700 inches of advertising. 
As it is, this was the greatest number of inches of 
paid advertising ever carried by any farm paper in a 
single issue. Another source of pride is the character 
of the advertisements. There are no guessing games; 
no fakes, no “get-something-for-nothing” humbugs. 
Every advertisement offers some honest article of 
daily commerce, and is signed by a responsible house. 
At no other time in the last 50 years could the char¬ 
acter of periodicals be so completely classified by their 
advertising columns as now. 
* 
We learn that in a few places canners are offering 
a little more for some varieties of green peas than 
they purposed paying earlier in the season. Their first 
plan evidently was to have their pea contracts signed 
at last year’s figures before farmers realized the dan¬ 
ger from the Green pea-louse. The chances are that 
canned peas will be higher next season, and in all 
fairness the farmer ought to share in the increase, 
since he takes practically all the risk in case of crop 
failure. In 1897 the wholesale price of canned peas 
ranged from 65 to 80 cents. In 1898 the range was 
from 70 to 80 cents; in 1899 from 70 to $1.15, and in 
1900 from 90 to $1.15. In only one month of last year, 
.June, were the peas sold at 90 cents. For eight 
months the price was $1.05 or more. The indications 
are for higher prices both for the stock now on hand 
and the coming crop. We therefore consider that 
farmers are justified in demanding more money for 
peas than last year’s contract called for. 
* 
We may truly say the seedsmen’s catalogues gain 
in beauty, usefulness and reliability year by year. As 
the old exaggerated wood cuts wear out they are re¬ 
placed by truthful process engravings, direct from 
well-grown specimens, and the glowing descriptive 
matter is modified to be in better keeping with the 
facts of nature. There are still some hardened old 
offenders of whom it may well be said that “the truth 
is not in them,” but they are growing more lonesome 
each season. It is a question whether these fiam- 
boyant catalogues do as much harm as might be sup¬ 
posed. They often deal, in part at least, in good seeds 
and plants, and their customers have learned to dis¬ 
count the windy statements just as the modern small 
boy modifies his expectations, roused at first sight of 
a flaring circus poster. Novelties are less plentiful 
than in former years, but there is good reason to re¬ 
gard those announced as possessing in the main a 
good share of real merit. 
* 
Suv'ERAi- local papers in New York State have 
printed an article taken from a Georgia paper de¬ 
scribing work said to be done by the entomologist of 
that State in fighting the San Jose scale. We are 
asked to give the facts in that matter. W. M. Scott 
is State Entomologist of Georgia, and he seems to 
have gone at the scale with fire and sword. Since 
March, 1898, he has caused to be dug up and burned 
300,000 trees which were found infested with the 
scale—most of them so badly that they were beyond 
recovery. Last Fall a nurseryman in Tennessee be¬ 
gan to ship trees into Georgia which were covered 
with the scale. He was warned not to ship, but per¬ 
sisted in doing so. As a result 30,000 of his trees were 
seized and burned. This nurseryman threatened to 
bring suit for the destruction of his property. The 
case was submitted to the Attorney-General of 
Georgia, who decided tnat the State Entomolog'st had 
the right to destroy such infested stock, and that it 
was his duty to destroy it. That decision ended the 
case. The point about it is that the law upholds the 
State official in his fight against this insect. We 
ought to have just such an official in every State and 
Territory of the Union! 
We have often spoken of the danger of judging by 
the eye or hand entirely. It is true that some farmers 
become very expert in estimating a crop by looking 
at it, or in determining the weight of feed or fertilizer 
by “hefting” it in the hand. Still, even with the most 
expert, the scales will often tell a remarkable story. 
We find a good illustration of this in the following— 
taken from a Cornell bulletin: 
(Jn one occasion a field wa.s planted to early potatoes, 
there being applied 706 pounds jier acre of a high-grade 
complete fertilizer costing $40 per ton. As was the cus¬ 
tom under such circumstances, some rows were left un¬ 
fertilized for comparison. At harvest time the workmen 
were instructed to dig fertilized and unfertilized rows, 
leaving the potatoes in their rows side by side for exami¬ 
nation. When ready the writer Inspected them carefully, 
and while there was a slight difference observable, the 
verdict rendered as the result of inspection only, was, 
“Not enough increase to pay cost of fertilizer.” Pressed 
with work the impulse was to have the potatoes picked 
up without further care, but a wiser thought prevailed, 
and a definite area was laid off and the potatoes from 
it carefully measured, when to the surprise of all the 
yield of the fertilized rows exceeded that of the unfer¬ 
tilized by 62V2 bushels per acre. This occurred in August 
and these potatoes had a ready market at flO cents per 
bushel. The value of the increase was $.50.25 per acre. 
The cost of the fertilizer wa.s $14 per acre, and if $2 are 
allowed as the cost of applying the same, the total ex¬ 
pense on account of fertilizer was $10 per acre, leaving 
$40.25 as net profit. And yet we were on the point of 
turning away from this experiment saying “the fertilizer 
does not pay.” 
A good many experiments are rendered worthless 
because the results are eyed rather than measured 
Too many of us ask a question of the soil, or of a 
plant or animal, and then answer it ourselves by 
using the eye for a basket or weight. The College of 
Agriculture at Cornell will conduct a number of co¬ 
operative experiments this year, and would like to ar¬ 
range with many New York State farmers to test fer¬ 
tilizers, wheat, buckwheat or orchard culture. Those 
who wish to try the experiments should write to J. L. 
Stone, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
* 
BREVITIES. 
RUR ALETTES. 
We’ve said it over many times 
In prose, and now we’ii try in rhymes; 
The COW' pea is a bean—no le.ss— 
With all the bean’s crisp tenderness. 
Once touched by sturdy old Jack Frost 
Its usefulness is surely lost. 
So hold your hand, my honest friend. 
Sow not the cow pea tili the end 
of May, or e’en the first of June, 
If you would have it sing the tune 
That iures the nitrate from its lair. 
Within the evanescent air. 
* * * * 
Hapijy that man! Yes, happy he alone . 
Who, at the close of life can say, “I’ve grown! ” 
Grown lich in spirit—grown more true and strong 
In love of right and hatred of all w'rong. 
* * * 
“I WANT a book with the Latin left out,” writes a 
friend. 
Mrs. S. j. Scale appears to be the “bad man” of the 
family. 
The cow-pea and clover students are invited to read Mr. 
Hell's article on first page. 
What ails the coward? He has a can’t sir ous growth 
on the will. 
“As full as an egg is of meat!” That is not very full, 
considering that the egg is 75 per cent water. 
Those jiolar-creamery sharks seem to be polling a big 
vote in the sucker party. We hear from them in new 
lilaces. 
The San Jos6 scale may take the scales from the eyes 
of New York farmers, so that they can get together for 
mutual good. 
Judas! That’s the right name for the man w’ho goes 
around with the agent for some wild-cat scheme and 
sells out his neighbors. 
Great interest is shown in the plan of crowding apple 
trees together as advocated recently by Mr. Hoyt. He 
w'ill tell us more about it next week. 
Comparatively few people realize how much cement is 
being used, particularly in the Central West, for paving 
and building purposes. “A great boon to mankind” i.s 
what Mr. Barney calls it. 
The criticism of the Grout bill is mostly destructive. 
Those who oppose it and admit the need of something 
that W’ill prevent the fraud in the business seem to have 
no good substitute to offer. 
Many farmers in the Eastern States use the grain drill 
for distributing fertilizer. With all the drill hoes in use 
the fertilizer is well spread and nicely covered, and the 
expense of buying a special tool is avoided. 
