238 
March 30 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TEE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homei. 
Established 1850. 
Hebbebt W. CoLLiNawooD, Editor. 
Db. Walteb Van Fleet, | 
H. E. Van Deman, V Associates. 
Mbs. E. T. Rotle, 1 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLBAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries In the Universal Postal Union, 12.04, equal ta 
8 b. 6d., or 8H marks, or lOH francs. 
“ A SQUARE DEAIi.” 
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 guar¬ 
antee to adjust trilling 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-Yobkeb 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 30, 1901. 
Some of our older readers may remember the old 
campaign song in which it was stated that 
“Van, Van, is a used-up man!” 
They need not think that this refers to our asso¬ 
ciate, Mr, Van Deman, as the result of his outpouring 
of fruit notes. He is simply catching up with the pro¬ 
cession, and is still ready and willing to bud, graft, 
spray or prune any fruit question that may come his 
way, whether from Maine or California. 
* 
Hung over the desk in a restaurant in Massachu¬ 
setts we found this little notice: 
IF WE HAVE PLEASED YOU TELL YOUR 
FRIENDS; IF WE HAVE NOT TELL US. 
We feel like adopting that as a plank in our own 
platform. If we do you good, tell your neighbor about 
it. If you think we do you harm, give us the first 
chance to make it right. 
« 
Western New York fruit growers are up in arms. 
Not for years have they been so thoroughly stirred 
up. Ci'owded meetings are being held, and a strong 
organization is being perfected. It is an organization 
lor business, and we regard it as one of the hopeful 
signs of the times that farmers are able to get to¬ 
gether for mutual defence. For years the fruit grow¬ 
ers have been waiting for the last straw which should 
break the fence which held them apart. It came with 
tne San Jos6 scale, and the proceedings at the Wes¬ 
tern New York Horticultural Society. 
* 
Congress is not in open session just now, but 
secret wires are being pulled all the time. Some of 
these wires lead up to the chairmanship of the Com¬ 
mittee on Agriculture. That chair is now occupied 
by J. W. Wadsworth, of New York State. He may 
safely be called the friend of oleo and the enemy of 
the cow. He is not the man to represent agriculture, 
but he will probably continue to head that committee 
unless the farmers run a few live wires up to the 
Speaker’s chair. A “live” wire differs from a dead 
one in the fact that it is charged with electrical force 
or energy. The friction of a pen on paper may charge 
the political wires with political energy. Write a 
letter to Hon. D. B. Henderson, Washington, D. C., 
telling him that you protest against Wadsworth as 
chairman of the Agricultural Committee. Run a live 
wire into the proceedings! 
* 
We made a strong effort this week to clear up the 
long list of questions which have accumulated. Before 
we came within sight of the bottom of the pile an¬ 
other mountain had started. They will all be an¬ 
swered in time, and we try to reply to the more im¬ 
portant ones by mail. Needless to say that we wel¬ 
come this great flood of questions. The search for 
reliable answers is a pleasure rather than a bore. 
There is no better way for an editor to learn what 
his readers desire, and no clearer indication of the 
trend of agricultural thought. The R. N.-Y. is blessed 
with a class of clear-headed, bright readers who 
think hard, and state their wants without reserve. It 
is a pleasure to serve them. We try to serve all alike; 
if we had any choice we would prefer to give extra 
thought and time to the humbler persons who are 
least able to help themselves, and hence most in need 
of help from others. A glance through this single 
issue of The R. N.-Y. will show how every corner of 
the country is drawn upon in order to obtain accurate 
information m many lines. 
Man stamps his trade mark upon every job that 
leaves his hands. That trade mark is a part of his 
own life and character. Sometimes one who has 
bought, stolen, earned, won or inherited the power 
to manage your labor rules your trade mark out and 
puts his own in place. Sometimes the laborer loses 
heart and courage, and cares not whether his trade 
mark shows or not—still it is there, for no man, how¬ 
ever degraded, can be classed as a mere machine. 
There are some people who perform certain things 
carelessly—the things they care least about—thinking 
that it does not matter whether distasteful things are 
shirked or half done. ^ They will find, too late per¬ 
haps, that the trade mark of character is branded on 
all that we do, and in the great shuffle of life the low¬ 
est brands are sure to come on top and shame us. 
* 
A FAJtMEK who owns the land through which a fine 
trout stream runs says it is being fished to death by 
city sportsmen. What can he do about it? There is 
no such property right in fish taken from a stream 
that runs through an inclosed field or park where 
they can pass up or down beyond the limits of the 
park at their pleasui-e, as will support an action of 
trespass against one who catches them and appro¬ 
priates them to his own use. The owner of the laud 
has a privileged property in the flowing stream only, 
and may indirectly preserve the fish by action for 
trespass against those who enter his land against his 
permission. It is larceny, however, to take fish from 
a pond, the pond being private inclosed property, and 
the fish liable to be taken at any time according to 
the pleasure of the owner. The only remedy is to 
post your land with the statutory notices warning 
trespassers against fishing (and hunting) on your 
premises, and prosecute tnose who, in spite of this, 
continue to disregard the notice. 
In making up this issue of The R. N.-Y. we have 
taken some pains lo see how much ground it covers. 
It appears that the following States are represented 
either by some question or by an answer: 
i.iaine, 
V'ermoiit, 
New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, 
Connecticut, 
New York, 
New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, 
Tennessee, 
Minnesota, 
Delaware, 
iviaryland, 
Virginia, 
North Carolina, 
Ohio, 
Indiana, 
Michigan, 
Illinois, 
Wisconsin, 
Kentucky, 
Mississippi, 
Kansas, 
Missouri, 
Colorado, 
South Dakota, 
Idaho, 
Oregon, 
California, 
Texas, 
Florida, 
Georgia, 
Nebraska, 
Iowa. 
Various Provinces of Canada, Mexico and Cuba 
were also drawn upon for original information and 
questions. The fact is that The R. N.-Y. is the great 
National agricultural weekly of the country. There 
is nothing sectional about it except its name. The 
name of the old Moore’s Rural New-Yorker was a 
household word carried into every corner of this 
country by those who went out from the farm homes 
of New York and New England. The modern R. N.-Y. 
has followed their trails, and tens of thousands of 
personal ties bind it to its readers. 
* 
Most people have in their make-up enough of the 
“snap and snarl” element without cultivating it. It 
crops out when the least thing goes wrong, makes 
them disagreeable to othei’S, and doubtless they think 
unpleasant things of themselves afterward. A cer¬ 
tain railroad company has among its oiucials a man 
who by long training has so accustomed himself lo 
handling difficult and contrary things that he is a 
wonder to all who see him under such circumstances. 
His judgment and general business knowledge may 
not exceed that of others below him in position, but 
he can go through mountains of details without be¬ 
coming “rattled,” getting cross, or neglecting the 
smallest matters. When some particularly difficult 
thing is on hand, like a public hearing to patrons 
who have grievances, this man is put in charge, for 
the company knows that he can straighten out mis¬ 
understandings and handle unreasonable and irate 
people better than anyone else. We have seen some 
farmers raise such a row over a kicking cow or balky 
horse, that it would take half a day for the farm to 
get clear of the atmosphere of vinegar ana sulphur. 
* 
No one regards the common spotted turtle as a 
specially brainy animal. Many will say that he has 
no mind, yet it is possible to teach him economical 
habits. A curious experiment was tried with one of 
these reptiles. He was placed at some distance from 
bis nest, with boards placed between, so that he was 
forced to turn four corners and travel back and forth 
in order to reach it. The first trip took him over an 
hour. He gained a little on the second, and finally 
learned to travel on the shortest line, so that the 
trip was made in three minutes, and again and again 
he went over it in the shortest time. He stopped in 
his course frequently, evidently meditating which 
way to go. The habit of finishing uis job in the 
quickest possible time became fixed. He studied to 
save steps. There are men who will laugh at the idea 
of a turtle using his brain to save steps, yet their 
own work from day to day is a living illustration of 
the fact that they lack the turtle’s ability to learn 
how to economize time and strength. After five tr.ps 
the turtle learned to cut corners. After 5,000 trips 
the man still wears out his heels in a vain effort lo 
save his head. 
A 
In all our experience we have never known so many 
fake “cures” for deafness as are now being brougnt 
to the attention of deaf people. These methods of 
treating the ear are not only useless, but often dan¬ 
gerous. We would not under any circumstances ad¬ 
vise our deaf friends to try them without the advice 
of a skilled aurist. To many this will seem cruel ad 
vice, but we believe it is true. Even competent doc¬ 
tors do not pretend to understand the needs of the 
delicate inner ear. Xt is folly to poke into it and play 
with it in testing these so-called “cures.” One rogue 
guaranteed to cure any case of deafness for $18.50. 
The patient was to take 2,000 pills—one to be swal¬ 
lowed each day. Thus six years are required to bring 
about the cure, and the skipping of a single day 
“breaks the charm.” Think of it—numbers of people 
sent money to this humbug! Worse than all this, 
the post-office authorities say that they cannot show 
that he is a fraud because they cannot bring anyone 
to say that he has taken the 2,000 pills consecutively 
and not been cured! Some people wonder why the 
deaf will always grasp at a straw. Those who won¬ 
der have never known what deafness is! 
* 
On page 239 the veteran Jacob Moore brings up the 
old question of fair compensation for the originator 
of new varieties. It is a part of the shame of modern 
civilization that many of the men who have given us 
the new fruits, flowers and vegetables chat have really 
added to the world’s comfort and weaku, have in 
their old age been deprived of ordinary comforts, or 
been forced to live upon chaidty. Others have grown 
wealthy by handling their pioductions in a business 
way, but to the shame of society be it said that the 
profits and a good share of the glory have gone to 
the handlers. We doubt whether it is possible to 
remedy this by law. It is too easy to propagate and 
spread new plants, and too difficult to distinguish 
them when small. The nurserymen of the country 
might well afford to make up a fund out of which 
prizes or rewards could be paid to those who p.oduce 
really superior new fruits. A committee of reliable 
fruit men should decide which varieties are really 
entitled to such favor, and awaid the prizes to those 
who stand head and shoulders above the rest. Does 
anyone doubt that under such a system the impi’ove- 
ment of our fruits in the future would be more rap.d? 
Is there any class of men in this country under great¬ 
er moral and financial obligations Lo do this than the 
nurserymen? Can anyone suggest a better plan? 
m 
BHEy/T/ES. 
We usler muke our garden in a little sorter yard, 
A great big fence around It, an' we found it miglity hard 
To git the men folks started fer ter spade or plow the 
ground; 
They didn’t iike sech labor an’ another job was found. 
An’ so the gardens languished, an' our garden sass an' 
greens 
Was jest about the measure of a single hill o’ beans; 
Hut now we take the garden right out in the open field; 
it jest divides the labor while it muitiplies the yield. 
The men folks chase the horses while they cultivate the 
crop, 
With plow and cultivator, but you couldn’t make ’em 
stop 
To work in that yard garden, so it never hed no show. 
The men folks are too dignified to handle spade an’ hoe. 
The R. N.-Y. Question issue! 
We would not broadcast Kaffir corn. 
No greenhorn produces good red apples. 
The world might be just as well off if you loved your¬ 
self as you do your nelghboi'. 
A READER says that Mr. Barney’s recent articles on 
cement making are worth enough to pay his subscription 
.'or life. 
We agree with Mr. Allen that it would be better for 
the shipper if he could simply hire the refrigerator car 
and supply his own ice! Why not? 
Nothing quite equal to the melon-growing business has 
developed in recent years. Even California now plans to 
send 1,000 carloads of melons to Chicago. 
The guessers still talk about using a windmill to gen¬ 
erate electricity for lighting a house. The electricians, 
on the other hand, cannot name a case where it has ever 
been done successfully. 
The man with “a little money’’ never had a better 
chance for investment than right now. In stocks and 
bonds? No; in partnership with some elderly farmer 
who has a good farm and wants a partner to work it. 
“What grass shall I sow under maple trees?” We do 
not know of anything that will do really well. The 
maple is about the most greedy tree we have. It takes 
full posse.ssion wherever it is put, and grass has no 
chance near it. 
