488 
July 13 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Egtablished 1850. 
Uerbeut W. Cor.i.iNGWOOi), Editor. 
Oil. WAI.TEB Van Fleet, / 
H. E. Van Deman. vAssoclates. 
Mus. E. T. UoVLE, \ 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries In the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. Cd., or 8J^ marks, or lOJjj 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 guar¬ 
antee to adjust trilling differences between subscribers and honest, 
resi)onslble adveiUsers. 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 TUE RURAL NEW-yoRKER when writing 
the advertiser. 
Name and address of sender, and what the remittance Is for, should 
appear In every letter. 
Kemlttances may be made in money order, express order, personal 
check or bank draft. 
THE RURAD NEW-YOKKER, 
409 i'earl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, .JULY 13, 1901. 
Prof. King on page 495 gives some facts not gen¬ 
erally known about the changes in the silo. It was 
supposed for a long time that these changes were 
much the same as those which occur when fruit is 
preserved by sealing it, while hot, in tight vessels. 
Later investigations go to show that the processes of 
silage are different. At any rate Prof. King makes it 
clear that the airtight silo means better silage. 
The apple crop! It is one thing to produce it and 
quite another to sell it at a fair figure. In order to 
sell it to advantage we must know what we have to 
sell. The Government reports are useful, in their 
way, but they cannot be as reliable as a collection of 
reports from wideawake growers who realize what it 
means to be accurate. One of the reasons for organ¬ 
izing the New York State Fruit Growers’ Association 
was to collect just such reports. Every apple grower 
in the country is interested in knowing what to ex¬ 
pect from New York. F. E. Dawley, Fayetteville, N. 
Y., is secretary of the Association, and he should re¬ 
ceive thousands of reports. 
* 
In seasons like the present when, on account of the 
lateness of planting, haying and cultivating are 
crowded closely together, it is the custom of some to 
hurry the horses constantly, and thus make them 
work harder than they should. When to this extra 
work is added the discomfort of excessively hot wea¬ 
ther like the present, the wonder is that more horses 
are not killed outright in the fields. We have known 
some men who avoided this without neglecting their 
work by stopping for three or four hours in the heat 
of the day and making it up in the light of the full 
moon. Of course haying by moonlight would hardly 
be a success, but plowing or cultivating can be done 
very well. 
* 
A FEW years ago some of the scientific people tried 
to frighten us by figuring that the world’s supply of 
nitrogen is limited, and that unless new supplies can 
be obtained famine must be expected. Such state¬ 
ments do not annoy the average citizen, whose 
thoughts go but little beyond the dollar which buys 
his food, but experimenters are still at work trying 
to solve the problems of a new nitrogen supply. Some 
of them go so far as to claim that nitrogen will yet 
be taken from the air in large enough quantities to 
cheapen the cost of fertilizing. The electric current 
Is expected to aid in this, and we understand that 
results have already been obtained which show be¬ 
yond a doubt that our children or grandchildren 
will be able to “use the air for a fertilizer sack.” 
« 
We are receiving a number of reports from farm¬ 
ers regarding the selling value of farm property. One 
good test of prosperity is the ease with which one’s 
capital can be converted Into cash. A farmer, let us 
say, has a 100-acre farm which cost $70 an acre 20 
years ago. What would it sell for now, or is it sal¬ 
able at all? While it is quite probable that the ma¬ 
jority of farmers in this country would not care to 
sell their farms for what they cost, still if farm prop¬ 
erty has depreciated in value, as is claimed, the facts 
should be known, for there must be some good reason 
for it. We know of farms that give larger returns 
than 15 years ago, yet the selling price is less than 
then, and it is almost impossible to dispose of them 
for agricultural purposes. In some fruit-growing lo¬ 
cations land suitable for apples or peaches commands 
fair sale at increased prices. This, however, is not a 
fair indication of the average farm conditions. We 
shall be glad to have readers tell us how the selling 
values of their farms will compai’e with those of 
former years, and whether the income from the farm 
is more or less. 
* 
Durino the fearful heat in this city two lemonade 
peddlers got into trouble over a piece of ice. Each 
claimed the ice, and from words they fell to blows. 
After a long squabble in the police court the police¬ 
man agreed to divide the ice in two pails. When he 
came to cut it the ice had vanished. There was noth¬ 
ing left but a wet place on the bricks! We have be¬ 
fore now seen the farmers quarrel over property or 
so-called personal rights. When the final division 
was made it was found that the “ice” had gone to 
the lawyers or other parties who sat on the fence 
and egged on the conflict. Why can we not learn 
to divide before we fight? 
• 
A MAN with a hoi'se and wagon but no harness ex¬ 
cept a bridle, wished to get the whole outfit to a 
stable a mile and a half away as quickly as possible. 
He studied the situation for a minute. Like the evo¬ 
lutionists, the “missing link” was what bothered him; 
but, unlike them, he soon found a solution. Why not 
make a harness of himself? Jumping on the horse’s 
back he asked a bystander to hand him the wagon 
thills, and with one in each hand away he went on 
a gallop. The scheme worked well; better, probably, 
than if he had had long hills to climb or had been 
riding a bucking broncho or runaway. After all, the 
men who are most esteemed are those who can fit 
themselves into the real needs of life without any 
loss of time. 
m 
KEroRTs of the damage done to the wheat crop by 
the Hessian fly show that some varieties of the grain 
are either not badly molested by the insect or else 
able to resist its attacks. If there were only a single 
report here and there we should consider that some¬ 
thing else must be responsible for the difference, but 
the reports are numerous and we conclude that there 
is some basis for them. We desire to hear from all 
wheat growers who have noticed any difference in 
the ability of certain varieties to resist the fly. What 
varieties are best and what appears to be the reason 
for it? Why should it not be possible to develop in 
a variety of wheat the habits of growth necessary to 
give it a good chance against the fly? If there really 
are such varieties the public should know about them. 
m 
The Postmaster General has issued a drastic order 
prohibiting carriers engaged in the free rural mail 
delivery from engaging in any outside work, with one 
single exception—that of taking subscriptions for 
newspapers or periodicals. The Department claims 
that some carriers have been so active in outside work 
as to show lack of energy in their oflicial duties. 
Some of them acted as agents for various express 
companies, which was detrimental to the Post Office 
Department, it being claimed that they induced pat¬ 
rons to send parcels by express, rather than mail, 
thereby earning a commission. Considering the fact 
that our parcels post system is expensive and incon¬ 
venient, and that it is generally believed that the ex¬ 
press companies have influenced legislation to this 
end, complaint of their further influence upon the 
carriers seems a trifle amusing. Rural carriers who 
are among our readers complain that Uncle Sam is a 
very parsimonious paymaster, which accounts for 
their willingness to add extra work to their official 
duties, which seem so poorly paid. 
« 
The hot weather for the past 10 days has caused 
dreadful suffering and serious loss. It has been worse 
in these respects than many a plague or epidemic of 
contagious disease. It is likely that nearly 1,000 per¬ 
sons died from the effects of the heat in New York 
City alone, while many more were prostrated and 
seriously injured. Horses died like sheep during the 
worst of the heat, and thousands of dollars worth of 
perishable property was destroyed. The farmer, with 
open fields and growing things about him, may find 
the heat uncomfortable, but his family will not suffer 
as do the people in the brick and stone ovens of the 
city. There is relief in the country at night, but in 
the city the brick and stone retain 'the heat so that 
those who swelter inside are denied the sleep which 
ought to refresh and fit them for another day. Yes, 
the country is the place for comfort, yet we regret 
to say that there are so-called farmers who fail to 
take advantage of these opportunities. With abund¬ 
ant facilities for housing ice they have no ice house. 
With ample land they seldom know what it is to 
have the table loaded with cooling fruits or agreeable 
vegetables. With all the possibilities for shade the 
house stands bare to the sun, with no cooling shades 
from tree or shrub about it, but an open exposure to 
the pitiless sun. It is not possible for people to 
suffer on the farms as human beings do in the city, 
but what a shame it is for farmers to neglect their 
privileges, and refuse to surround themselves with 
the things that make life better worth the living! 
• 
It is claimed that one of the three most important 
scientific advances during the past 10 years is the 
discovery that mosquitoes spread malaria, yellow 
fever and other diseases. Gen. Sternberg, of the 
United States Army, describes in the Popular Science 
Monthly some of the experiments conducted in Cuba: 
It is quite certain that malaria is caused by a parasite 
that lives in the red corpuscles of the blood, and can be 
transmitted only by a mosquito of a certain kind, which 
must bite first tne patient suffering from malaria, and 
then the person to whom the disease is given. 
As to yellow fever, seven soldiers permitted them¬ 
selves to be bitten by mosquitoes which were known 
to have bitten yellow fever patients. Six of them con¬ 
tracted the disease, and one surgeon who attended 
them died. Other soldiers slept in the bedding and 
wore the clothes of yellow fever patients, but not 
one became diseased. These experiments and others 
go to show that if mosquitoes can be destroyed in 
large numbers the chances of contracting diseases 
like malaria and some other fevers would be greatly 
diminished. The life habits of the mosquito were 
described on page 417 of The R. N.-Y. If the in¬ 
habitants of towns or communities can work together 
ivith a few simple remedies the mosquito pest can 
be nearly wiped out. 
• 
We hear quite a little complaint from farmers 
about some of the bulletins issued from the experi¬ 
ment stations. This complaint is not confined to the 
class who might be called dull or ignorant, but it 
often comes from men who have been highly success¬ 
ful in farming, and who have conservatively taken 
up many of the new methods and scientific practices. 
The chief criticism tnese men make is that the sta¬ 
tion bulletins are not always clear and easily under¬ 
stood. The facts are given with scientific accuracy, 
but it often seems as though the author or editor had 
mistaken his audience. He seems to be aiming at 
men well trained in scientific terms or methods, and 
not at practical men who have little time left in a 
busy life to study such details. In the opinion of 
these men the station people fail as popular editors, 
yet it is a fair question as to whether it is the duty of 
a station director to attempt a popular bulletin. We 
think some of the stations have made mistakes in 
attempting too much “popular” work. Men who are 
fitted by nature for scientific research have attempted 
to write these results down to the comprehension of 
the practical men who do little true studying. We 
think they would have done better if they had sim¬ 
ply issued a technical report of their experiments and 
left to others the task of making the information 
popular, in the common acceptance of the term. 
9 
BREVITIES. 
“No man is born into the world, wliose work 
Is not born with him—there is always work, 
And tools to work withal, for those wlio will— 
And blest are the horny hands of toil! 
The busy world shoves angrily aside 
The man who stands with arms akimbo set. 
Until occasion tells him what to do— 
And lie who waits to have his task marked out 
Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled.” 
_ —Lowell. 
“The shovel plow on the hog’s nose.” 
The do all purpose man is a Jack of all trades. 
Some men go around a rock—others pull it out! 
Observe how often the cows line up at the brook this 
weather. 
If lack of hay makes you forlorn—get out and plant 
more fodder corn. 
Pretty tough—when a farmer takes city boarders and 
has to buy his vegetables! 
We never saw crops quit and fall down as rapidly as 
they did during the recent hot period. 
To knock out a man and declare him dead beat just 
mix the humidity up with the heat! 
We plant late peas where the early ones grew—plow¬ 
ing the first vines under. In this way we obtain a surer 
crop. 
Why do we say “cool as a cucumber?” The hottest 
business on the farm is picking cucumbers on a Summer 
afternoon. 
No, we do not like to see a housewife so opposed to 
dirt that she will hurt herself during this hot weather, 
trying to scrub it all out. 
Observers are likely to be deceived in estimating this 
year’s hay crop. The grass on many old meadows is tall 
but very thin, and will not weigh out well. 
There is complaint of a shortage of horses in central 
Kansas. So many animals have been purchased by the 
British government that prices have increased nearly 60 
per cent. 
“Sickness or disease is any departure from, failure in, 
or perversion of normal physiological action in the ma¬ 
terial constitution or functional Integrity of the living 
organism.” 
Militarism bows before agriculture in Kansas. The 
annual target practice of one of the State regiments was 
indefinitely postponed recentlj’’ because the members 
were so busy in the fields. 
