1901 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
10 Weeks for 10 Cents. 
The time is nearly up for those 23 cash 
prizes that we have been talking about. 
The contest closes January 1. We have 
received clubs from every State in the 
Union, and Canada. The clubs are 
small, but we expected them to be; yet 
as a whole they count up into a great 
many names. We are, however, yet 
short of our 20.000 new names for 10 
weeks each. We would like to have 
enough to make up the full 20,000 new 
names by January 1. If two out of 
every five old subscribers would send 
one name we would get the 20,000 before 
the close of the old year. Besides, there 
is time enough even now for anyone to 
start in and win the first prize by New 
Year’s. We are ready to send samples, 
blanks, etc., to anyone who will send 
us a postal card for them. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
New York. 
MARKET NOTES 
THE NORTH WOODS are sending down 
their usual delegation of Christmas trees, 
which are piled up high along the docks 
on West Street. The trees are nn stly of 
the spruce and hemlock family, and are 
put up with great care, the smaller in 
bunches, and the larger ones wUh limbs 
lied together. The packing is done so 
nicely that when loosened the limbs spread 
out and look nearly as well as wher In the 
woods. Retail prices run from 50 cents to 
$5 according to size. This year there was 
a large pile of ordinary hemlock twigs two 
or three feet long, for use in trimming the 
interiors of houses and churches. Of 
course, there are large quantities of holly 
and various mossy running evergreens, 
both loose and made up in rope.s, wreaths 
and other forms. Much of the mistletoe 
comes from England, and at this writing 
has not arrived. Last year the bulk of it 
heated and spoiled on shipboard. What 
was lit for sale brought enormous prices, 
a little spray selling for 75 cents. 
PUMPKINS AND SQUASHES of the 
better sorts are scarce, and sell at prices 
double last year’s figures. There is no 
doubt that the use of corn-cutting ma¬ 
chinery has lessened the growing of pump¬ 
kins, which are in the way of the har¬ 
vester; and ordinarily pumpkins do not 
bring enough to pay a farmer for hauling 
them to market Squashes sold so low last 
year that many growers were disgusted 
and reduced their acreage. It is reported 
that Minnesota has a fair crop of squashes, 
which have been bought by Boston parties. 
Tho size of the pieces of pumpkin pie in 
New York eating houses has not visibly 
diminished, but then there are schemes for 
adding other stuff to the filling. I have 
found apple sauce adulterated with mashed 
potato. The lack of fiavor was a mystery 
until the cause was discovered. The po¬ 
tato appeared to mix very well and would 
hardly be noticed except by looking closely. 
GROWER AND CONSUMER.—The fol¬ 
lowing letter is from a New Jersey fruit 
man: 
“This is a fruit-growing section, mostly 
small fruits. Our local market here Is very 
small. Consequently we have to ship our 
fruit and produce mostly to the large cities 
by rail, to be disposed of through com¬ 
mission houses, which as a rule is very un¬ 
satisfactory to the growers. We are aware 
that the prices the consumers pay for our 
fruit and the prices returned to the grow¬ 
ers are altogether too far apart. Is there 
any way to come closer in contact with 
the consumer? We can get along very well 
with insects, scales, fungus diseases, 
blights, etc., but the greatest trouble is In 
the market e!ul. Often it makes but little 
differeiu-e in price whether we put our 
fruit upon the market in first-class or in¬ 
ferior condition. Can you suggest a plan to 
remedy this great dlfllculty in marketing?’’ 
This question has been often disqussed, 
but it is one In which interest is constantly 
growing. When a fruit grower compares 
the retail price at which his goods sell with 
the net that he gets, he feels, and often 
justly, that the difference is too great, and 
that somebody is getting more profit than 
his share. Of course, a man who lives at 
some distance from the city must have an 
agent here to handle his goods. There Is 
no one better qualified for this than the 
commission man who has had years of ex¬ 
perience In distributing produce throughout 
the city. The trouble Is that in this com¬ 
mission business there is so much oppor¬ 
tunity for dishonesty in various ways that 
can hardly be detected that rogues find it 
an easy field to work in. These people and 
the dead beats who receive goods with¬ 
out making any returns whatever, have 
brought the business into disrepute. There 
are enough honest commission men in New 
861 
York to handle all the goods shipped here. 
Of course, they do not promise extrava¬ 
gant and unwarranted prices, and they 
sometimes make mistakes in selling too 
quickly or holding goods too long. It is 
for their own interest to get as high prices 
as they can, and make quick and fair re¬ 
turns, for upon these principles their busi¬ 
ness has been built up, and they know 
that there is no other way in which it can 
be continued. The difference between the 
wholesale and retail prices is not all profit 
to the handler, for waste, cartage and 
store rent must be considered. The com¬ 
plaint that it makes but little difference 
in price received whether fruit is first-class 
or only ordinary, shows that the receiver 
is dishonest or does not know his business. 
Of course, owing to the freakish state of 
tho market during the fruit season, it may 
happen that, owing to a temporary 
scarcity, inferior lots on one day sell for 
more than better grades the next, but this 
is exceptional, and the rule is that quality 
and appearance count largely in the price 
obtained. We do not know how one farmer 
at quite a distance from the city can get 
any closer to the consumer to advantage 
than by having a reliable commission man 
act as his agent. It looks like a feasible 
plan, however, for associations of farmers 
to open depots for distributing their own 
goods at retail in cities. It is doubtful 
whether much more money would be made 
for a time than by selling through the 
better class of commission dealers, but 
features could be made of small packages 
for family use, and a trade mark standing 
for real merit, which would be a constant 
advertisement to increase the demand for 
the goods of the association. w. w. ii. 
NEW YORK STATE DAIRYMEN MEET. 
A Good Mooting at Oloan. 
The meeting of New York dairymen at 
Clean on December 11-12 will pass into his¬ 
tory as one of the most helpful of the 
long series. Clean lies in the heart of a 
great dairy section—a section in fact where 
cows are the chief farm machines and 
milk is a staple product. The Interest In 
the oleo discussUin and the fact that some 
of the most noted dairy authorities in the 
country were to be present served to at¬ 
tract a large audience. There was prob¬ 
ably a larger proportion of actual cow 
men present than is usual at the New 
York meeting. By cow men we mean 
those who actually milk the cows, as dis¬ 
tinct from creamerymen and manufac¬ 
turers. This goes to silence one argu¬ 
ment of the oleo men, who have claimed 
that the common farmers take no Interest 
in the passage of the Grout bill, but that 
only a small class of creamerymen de¬ 
mand it. The way these same “common 
farmers” pour out and express themselves 
whenever they have an opportunity ends 
that argument. It was thought best not to 
have a display of of dairy machinery and 
fixtures at this meeting, and it was doubt¬ 
less a wise move, for the speakers thus 
secured larger and more attentive audi¬ 
ences. 
Mayor J. H. Waring, of Clean, welcomed 
the dairymen. He said that Allegany and 
Cattaraugus counties can supply as good 
dairy products as can be found anywhere. 
Yet bogus butter and filled cheese have 
come Into the market as a menace to the 
dairy industry. It is legitimate for dairy¬ 
men to get together and learn how to 
make better products, or how to cheapen 
and Improve methods of manufacture. It 
is equally Important for them to learn how 
to prevent fraud and unfair competition 
for, unless this can be done, their labor 
and skill will be largely wasted, and the 
incentive to study and develop new meth¬ 
ods will be destroyed. The Mayor’s ad¬ 
dress served to show how all who come in 
touch with dairymen quickly recognize the 
strong demand for legal protection from 
fraud. Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., respond¬ 
ed, and referred to the business-like meth¬ 
ods of organized farmers. Dairying is the 
greatest Industry of the greatest State of 
the Union, and no excuses are needed when 
dairymen seek to combine, and thus pick 
up the successful methods of other lines 
of business. President Geo. E. Smith said 
that the Association in 25 years of work 
had met with varying fortunes, but on the 
whole had done its share in uplifting the 
dairy Interests of New York. He spoke of 
the exhibits of cheese at Buffalo. New 
York had a total of 409 exhibits and scored 
97.39. Canada with 200 exhibits scored 96.79, 
while Wisconsin with 219 exhibits scored 
96.04. This shows how close the competi¬ 
tion was, and while New York led It must 
be remembered that the exhibition was at 
her home, and that only the hardest work 
can win abroad. New York won a gold 
medal on butter and cheese, thus showing 
that it is possible to make the finest of 
dairy products in the State when the con¬ 
ditions are right. 
I’rof. 11. H. Wing, of Cornell, gave an 
e.xcellent talk on "Some Results from Feed¬ 
ing a Herd of Poor Cows.” He said that 
for the past 10 years they had been trying 
at Cornell to feed fat Into milk-that is, 
increase the per cent of fat by special feed 
ing. They conclude that it is not possible 
to make any permanent Increase of fat 
per cent by changing the feed. It was 
argued that the Cornell cows were not 
fair specimens for such a test, so a herd 
of 20 cows was selected that seemed to be 
better suited. The owner was in debt and 
could not buy the required grain feed. The 
cows were mostly young—giving from 10 
to 20 pounds of milk per day. This milk 
was tested before the feeding began, and 
from March to November weekly records 
were made. Then 10 of the cows were 
bought for 526 each—best and poorest in¬ 
cluded. They were fed silage and hay and 
from four to six pounds of bran, corn and 
oats and cotton seed mixed. After calving 
they had all the grain they could eat— 
from eight to 14 pounds per day. This 
grain was fed while the cows were at 
pasture, the plan being to see if they 
would give richer milk than before, and 
how much. As a result of all this one cow 
made an average gain in butter fat of one- 
half of one per cent. Three others gained 
.44, .41 and .41 respectively—others less. 
One cow actually gave a poorer milk under 
the heavy grain feeding. One cow gained 
heavily In milk, giving 2,476 pounds in 1900 
and 5,049 pounds for the period in 1901 
while under test. This cow ate 14 pounds of 
grain per day. This does not show any 
great Increase in butter fat as the result 
of heavy feeding. Prof. Wing drew the 
conclusion that all such tests show that 
each cow has a certain individuality of her 
own. What one will do is no rule for an¬ 
other. It pays to know what each cow is 
doing, and then vary the feed and care if 
results show it to be desirable. 
Prof. I. P. Roberts read a thoughtful 
paper on “How May the Profits from Our 
Dairies Be Increased?” The profits of 
dairy husbandry are not what they should 
be. Suppose the eight-hour system were 
established in the dairy. Other lines of 
business have prospered on an eight or 10- 
hour day, but dairying has always required 
long and arduous hours of toil. It would 
be impossible to meet the shorter day un¬ 
less the economics of milk production can 
be simplified and Improved. The cows in 
the Pan-American test showed a profit, 
excluding the calf, of 541.56 per cow for 
six months. That is, the selling price of 
the butter was that much greater than the 
actual cost of the food—not counting labor. 
The butter in this case brought 25 per 
cent more than the average price received 
by dairymen in the State. Many practical 
dairymen work from early morning until 
after sundown at night, and at the end of 
the year have but a few hundred dollars 
surplus. Prof. Roberts believes that much 
of this lack of success is due to bad man¬ 
agement or carelessness. At least one- 
half of the cows In the State do not pay. 
At Cornell some years ago the herd aver¬ 
aged scarcely 3,000 pounds of milk per year. 
In 1898 the descendants of these cows aver¬ 
aged 7,575 pounds. These cows are largely 
grades, but good bulls have been kept at 
the head, the cows have been well fed and 
selected by the scales and Babcock test. 
The Binghamton beet sugar factory sold 
its old machinery for scrap iron and put in 
a new plant at a cost of 5200,000. The re¬ 
sult is that the company will be able to 
pay dividends while the old machinery 
meant sure failure. Dairymen may learn 
a lesson from this. If half a million cows 
could be sent to the fertilizer heap the sit¬ 
uation would be relieved and prosperity 
given to a struggling industry. Prof. Rob¬ 
erts says that our stations. Institutes and 
conventions do not reach and convince the 
man with the unprofitable cow. We make 
laws to exclude cheap labor, but forget the 
cheaper labor on the farms of New York 
State who work 12 hours per day at five 
cents an hour, and whose products com¬ 
pete in every market with those of better 
paid labor. Teachers must be sent to the 
homes of those men, and even then the 
work of education will be painfully slow. 
Prof. Roberts did not attempt to tell how 
this work is to be done. He painted the 
picture in dark colors, and called for vol¬ 
unteers to show how it may be remedied. 
The following officers were elected for 
the ensuing year: President, D. P. Witter; 
vice-president, H. B. Cook; secretary. W. 
W. Hall; treasurer, F. E. Dawley; direc¬ 
tors. Jared Van Wagenen, W. H. Jordan, 
R. P. Grant. M. T. Morgan. Geo. W. Sis¬ 
son and J. C. Sibley. The honorary vice- 
presidents are: B. B. Odell, of Albany: T. 
L. Woodruff, of Brooklyn; C. A. Wletlng, 
of Schoharie: E. J. Burrell, of Herkimer; 
C. H. Royce, of Dutchess: F. H. Merry, of 
Oneida; W. E. Daud, of Livingston; J. P. 
Clark, of Chautauqua: R. H. Bent, of Jef¬ 
ferson; E. J. Preston, of Dutchess; F. A. 
Converse, of Jefferson; A. D. Harrington, 
of Chenango: F. W. Borden, of Montgom¬ 
ery; V. C. Beeby, of Wyoming: F. N. God¬ 
frey and F. W. Higgins, of Cattaraugus. 
Resolutions were adopted stating the jus¬ 
tice of the Sherman cheese bill and the 
Grout oleo bill, and urging all New York 
State Congressmen to vote for these meas¬ 
ures. Secretary Wieting’s administration 
of the State Agricultural Department was 
commended, and the thanks of the Society 
to the citizens of Glean, and particularly 
to F. N. Godfrey, who worked hard to 
make the convention a success, were given 
with a rising vote. The convention also 
denounced the scheme of Government irri¬ 
gation for the arid lands. 
In The Summer 
Of life a woman may find herself fading 
and failing. She doesn’t understand iL 
She goes to doctors, who treat her for 
this or for that, but she gets no better. 
She grows frail and pale. She can just 
"drag about the house,” but has no 
P leasure in life. 
[any such women 
have taken advant¬ 
age of Dr. I’ierce’s 
offer of free consult¬ 
ation by letter, and 
have been restored 
by Dr. Pierce’s 
treatment to per¬ 
fect health. There 
is no more wonder 
ful medicine for 
women than Dr. 
Pierce’s Favorite 
Prescription. Its 
action upon the 
womanly organs is 
at once apparent 
in the decrease of 
pain and the in¬ 
crease of strength. 
It cures female 
weakness and such 
diseases as take 
away the strength 
and beauty of 
women. 
Sick women are 
invited to consult 
Dr. Pierce by letter 
free. All corres¬ 
pondence private. Address Dr. R. V. 
Pierce, Buffalo, N. Y. 
” Hefore I commenced to use your medicine I 
was in a bad condition (for eight years) and 
four doctors treated me,” writes Mrs. Settle 
Garysburg, Northampton Co., N. C. 
gave me at the time some re- 
licf, but it did not last Ion?. I was some days 
in my bed and some days 1 dragged about the 
hou.se. I have used five bottles of Dr. Pierce’s 
Favorite Prescription and five of the ‘ Golden 
Medical Discovery,’ and four vials of the ‘ Pel¬ 
lets.’ Now I feel like a new woman, and I want 
the world to know it.” 
The action of the "Favorite Prescrip¬ 
tion ” is assisted by the use of "Pleasant 
Pellets ” when the bowels are irregular. 
RHEUMATISM 
The Dr. Von Post great nolland Kenierty. 
"QUICKKBLIKF.” In capsule form, QDICKLY 
OUUK8 KHKDMAT18M IN I'r8 WOK8T HORM8. 
No free doctors. No free samples. No free humbug, 
but an HONK8T and special QUICK UBUIEVING 
remedy. Don’t wait and suffer. Price, by mall, *l 
per hundred, or send 26 cents in silver and get 25 
capsules for trial. Your “quarter” back if not satis¬ 
factory. JOHN U. P08’l'. Deep Klver, Conn. 
Trade Mark. 
LUMP JAW 
Kasily and thoroughly cured- 
New, common-sense method, 
not ein>enHive. No cure, bo 
pay* FRKE. A practical, ill¬ 
ustrated treatise on theabao- 
luts cure of Lump .Jaw, free if 
you ask for Pamphlet no. 241, 
Flcmlnu^Bros., chemists, 
n.loB stock Tards, Chicago, III. 
BRAND NEW STEEL ROOFINO 
Bought at Receivers’ Balt- 
Bheets either flat, eorrw 
S .ted or“V’*crimped. N« 
ols except a hatchet ol 
hanunerls needed to Ui 
the roofing. We ^rnisi 
free with each' 'order 
enough paint to 51.75 
wrerand nalisto lay. Price per square, $l.fD 
A square means lOOmnare ft. Write for Free Catalotae 
6T on Gcocral Hcrchandtse. Chicago House 
Wrecking Co.. West S6th and Iron Sts., Chicago, ilL 
All Hands Need It 
when all known resources fail, no matter 
how deep-seated, complex, chronic or 
aente the case, its penetrating, absorp 
tive, antiseptic power is unfailing. 
Veterinary Pixine 
brings quick relief. Scratches, Crea-se 
Heel, Mud Fever (th<it defied trciitm»>ut 
for years); Abscesses, Stinginir Sores, 
Hoof Rot, Cow Fo.x, Mange,all Inflamma¬ 
tory Swellings,Old Sores and Skin Di.sease 
Absolutely Cureda 
Meals without Scab. Stimulates New 
Growth of Mail-—natural color. It pen¬ 
etrates, stjotbes and heals. Money back 
if it faiks. 
2 oz., 25c.; 8 oz., 50c.; 5-lb. pkge , $4. 
At all druggists and dealers or sent prepaid. 
TROY CHEMICAL CO., TROY, N. Y. 
