i89o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
139 
Business. 
PLANTS BY MAIL. 
At the request of a number of friends the 
R. N.-Y. has secured the following opinions: 
We shall, of course, be glad to hear the 
other side—that of the buyer. 
FROM JAMES VICK. 
We mail plants not only to every State 
in the Union, but to most of the foreign 
countries, and do not lose more than one 
per cent. Should the plants fail to arrive 
in good condition we mail another lot. 
% FROM THE STORES & HARRISON CO. 
We certainly consider it a good thing to 
send by mail all kinds of plants, etc., that 
can be sent in that way. If they could not 
be sent by mail it would debar thousands 
of people from obtaining them at all, as 
there are thousands of post-offices that are 
a considerable distance from any express of¬ 
fice. We are doing a large trade by mail, with 
general satisfaction. We probably receive five 
or more complaints of the excessive express 
charges to one complaint of the size or con¬ 
dition of the plants sent by mail. Of course, 
where parties are so near as to make the 
express charges any way reasonable it is 
better to send such things by express, but 
for the shipment of small plants for long 
distances we should advise the mail every 
time. 
FROM PETER HENDERSON & CO. 
We have never countenanced the system 
of sending plants by mail, unless where it 
is absolutely out of the question to get 
them to their destination by any other 
method. The practice is entirely wrong, 
for, in nine cases out of 10, the plants do 
not arrive in nearly as good condition as if 
sent by express, and it is only the smaller 
and weaker plants which are sent in that 
way. From 15 to 20 per cent, of our plant 
orders are sent by express, and probably 
from five to eight per cent, would cover the 
entire volume of business which is done by 
sending plants through the mail. As a 
rule, our customers never receive the 
plants in anything like as good condition 
as when they are sent by express, and they 
are gradually beginning to see that, after 
all, the express method is by far the cheap¬ 
er when the condition the plants usually 
arrive in is considered. 
FROM ROBERT SCOTT & SON. 
We give our customers the option of 
sending their orders either by mail or ex¬ 
press, always advising the latter when the 
distance is short, as we can then send larger 
plants, but the result has been that over 
four-fifths of all our plant orders are 
shipped by mail, and we receive annually 
thousands of letters stating that the 
plants were a success. Of course, there 
are some complaints, and we always replace 
damaged plants. We believe that the 
small mailing roses will go as safely by 
mail as by express, and we receive very 
few complaints of any kind with regard to 
our roses. On the other hand, there are 
frequent complaints that geraniums and 
other soft-wooded plants have decayed or 
been broken in the mails, but we always 
make the losses good. The great value of 
the mail service to horticulturists, is that 
those living in the country can, at a reason¬ 
able price, purchase new plants which the 
local florists do not keep in stock, and 
which if sent by express, would cost a very 
high price. 
FROM THE DINGEE & CONARD CO. 
We have for many years advised our cus¬ 
tomers to have their goods sent by mail, 
whenever the orders were suitable to go in 
that way. Some orders and some goods are 
of course too large and bulky to go by mail, 
and these must go by express. But our ex¬ 
perience is, that all orders suitable to go by 
mail—which include nearly all of those for 
ordinary-sized plants, and not exceeding 
five dollars in value—can be sent in that 
way quite as safely and expeditiously, and 
reach the purchaser in just as good con¬ 
dition as those sent by express, and the sav¬ 
ing in expense is so large that people cannot 
afford to have this class of orders sent by 
express when it is possible to avoid doing 
so. The service is now admirably man¬ 
aged, and there is no question but that the 
merchandise mail is of incalculable value 
to all sections of the country, and we hope 
its benefits will be extended and enlarged. 
FROM J. C. VAUGHAN, 
In my shipments of roses and other grow¬ 
ing plants I hold the following views : 
1. I advise all buyers to have their 
plants forwarded by express., 
2. For long-distance shipments, while 
the mail saves considerable expense, it is 
often unsatisfactory. 
3. Nine-tenths of my retail orders are, 
by request, sent by mail. Nine-tenths of 
the wholesale trade require their stock to 
be forwarded by express or freight. 
4. People are generally satisfied with 
the conduct of the mail service in handling 
plants, otherwise they would not continue 
to order in this manner, as they'do. If very 
carefully handled on receipt, many plants 
may be saved, which would otherwise be 
lost. I think the practice indulged in by 
many houses in the mail trade of offering, 
on goods sent by mail, large percentages in 
commissions, premiums and discounts from 
their printed prices, has a tendency to re¬ 
duce the quality of the stock they send out, 
and such reduction, if it must be made to 
overbid their competitors, would be much 
better applied by giving extra plants to pay, 
in part, for the express charges, so that their 
customers would get larger plants and 
those in better condition because more soil 
and packing material would be sent with 
them. ’ 
FROM JOHN THORPE. 
Whenever it is possible to send plants by 
express I always advise doing so. All grow¬ 
ing plants suffer to some extent in the 
mails. There are, however, hundreds, yes, 
thousands of purchasers who live from 10 to 
50 miles from any express office, and who 
must, as a matter of course, either have 
their plants sent by mail or go without. 
Last year I received only four complaints 
about plants sent by mail. Two of these 
is a letter from a practical farmer regard¬ 
ing the matter: 
“The weeder has been used with good re¬ 
sults on rye, also on oats after they were up. 
I am of the opinion that in the near future 
the weeder will be used extensively for that 
purpose, especially on winter grain. As to 
its use in putting in grain and grass seeds, I 
used it for harrowing in oats, barley, 
Hungarian and ordinary grass seeds, with 
very gratifying results the past season. 
Had the season been very dry, the result 
might have been different, though I believe, 
one year with another, there is nothing 
that will equal the weeder for this work.” 
Saving Agents’ Commissions on Imple¬ 
ments.— Having read the Rural’s account 
of Mr. Anderson’s “ Co-operative Thrash¬ 
ing Machine Company,” consisting of him¬ 
self and neighbors, on page739 of last year’s 
volume, I would like to inquire how they 
succeeded in purchasing their machine 
direct from the manufacturer with a deduc¬ 
tion of $90 for agents’ fees. I have tried 
several times to purchase machinery in 
that way and thus save agents’ fees, but 
the best offer I ever received was that I 
should pay full retailers’ price for the first 
and get a discount on the second machine, 
or if I would order two at once I might get 
agents’ discount. My partner and I have 
for the past two seasons run a thrasher like 
the one Mr. A. has. We have never thrash¬ 
ed for less than four cents per bushel for 
rye and wheat, and two cents for oats 
and barley. Last fall the machine ran 32^ 
days and earned $362.80. The expenses 
were $195—wages at $2 per day for ourselves 
and teams and for a hired man and team, 
HOME-MADE “ BUG WAGON.” KlG. 44. 
were from California, one from Dakota and 
one from uearer home. The reduction in 
postage has enabled shippers to send 
stronger packages. I make it a rule to re¬ 
place all plants damaged in transit. 
FROM ELLWANGER <fe BARRY. 
Most of the stock that we furnish is of 
large size and is shipped either by express 
or freight. Very few of our customers de¬ 
sire the small plants usually sent by mail. 
IMPLEMENT NOTES. 
The Acme harrow is now made with a 
sulky attachment which can be easily fitted 
to old machines now in use. This attach¬ 
ment saves a great deal of useless draft. 
The new attachments that have been 
placed on the Planet Jr. hors&hoes, 
promise to make that tool more popular 
than ever. The manufacturers report a 
heavy trade. 
A new potato tool is called for. It is a 
combination of subsoil plow and cultiva' or, 
which may follow the trench plow and 
mellow the bottom of the tench. It should 
also carry a hopper and distribute ferti¬ 
liser. Who will give us such a tool ? 
New Use For Breed’s Weeder.—L ast 
week we spoke of the possibility of using 
Breed's weeder ou growing grains, Here 
and $30 for oil, repairs, etc. A year ago * 
a great deal more grain was raised, espec¬ 
ially rye, and we were out 46 days and 
earned $562. (The figures include our 
own thrashing bills in the estimate for 
each year). The expenses for repairs, 
grease, etc., were $61. This is a rather 
hilly country, so mere moving around is 
required than out on the prairie where the 
fields of grain are larger. As soon as the 
machines get too old to do good work, 
the owners have to come down to three 
cents for wheat and l}4 for oats in order to 
get any work. Clover seed was plentiful 
this fall and after thrashing was done, we 
ran a huller 30 days : gross receipts, $333 50; 
wages, $1S0. Other expenses $14. We 
hulled clover for 75 cents per bushel with 
the Birdsell huller and recleaner. 
Jo Daviess County, Ill. “SUCKER.” 
ANSWERED BY WM. ANDERSON. 
Our company is composed of 12 farmers 
who joined together for mutual advantage. 
We are not incorporated. We appointed 
two of the company to correspond with 
manufacturers with a view to saving mid¬ 
dlemen’s expenses. The company of whom 
we purchased had a local agent here, but 
we told them plainly we would not deal 
with their agent but only with the com¬ 
pany direct and at a discount of agency fees. 
We also asked to pay by installments. We 
gave them the financial standing of the 
company and told, them il satisfactory to 
send a man from headquarters and close 
the business. They did so. 
Alcona County, Michigan. 
R. N.-Y.—The matter of buying imple¬ 
ments to the best advantage will receive 
extra attention in these columns. The first 
point to be discussed will be the necessity 
and importance of the agent or middleman. 
The manufacturers will give their side of 
the matter and then we shall hear from in¬ 
telligent farmers. We shall thus obtain 
all the facts. 
MARKETS FOR WILLOWS. 
W hat is the outlook for profitable occu¬ 
pation in the culture of basket willows ? 
This question or others of similar import 
have been put to us many times,and we have 
taken pains to gather all available infor¬ 
erand importer in this country, having been 
mation upon the subject. F. Dreyer, 81 
Barclay Street, this city, is the oldest deal- 
engaged in the business for 45 years. He 
tells us that he formerly bought large quan¬ 
tities of peeled willows, paying for them as 
high as 12 cents per pound. The demand 
has been decreasing year by year, until now 
he says he would not pay over four cents 
per pound for good sap-peeled stock, and 
would take only a limited quantity at that 
The demand for basket willows now 
much less than the supply, and the sale is 
very slow. Mr. Dreyer says he would ad¬ 
vise any one contemplating engaging in 
the business not to do so. There is 
not the slightest encouragement to 
hope for any profit even were it 
possible to sell the stock at all. The cause 
for these changed conditions is the impor¬ 
tation of baskets and other manufactured 
willow-ware from Frauce and Germany 
where they are manufactured at what 
would be starvation wages to an American 
laborer. In short, these goods, after pay¬ 
ing a duty of 30 per cent., have nearly 
driven to t.he wall the basket-makers of 
this country. A large, covered hamper 
was shown which was said to cost in Ger¬ 
many about 15 cents, but no manufacturer 
in America could make l*" for anything like 
that sum. This is what has killed the 
willow-growing industry in this country. 
In 1S88, $27,000 worth of willows were im¬ 
ported, in 1889, $23,240 worth, which is less 
than one-half what a single dealer imported 
40 years ago. In 1888, $340,000 worth of 
baskets were imported, in 1889, $345,000 
worth, and the quantity is constantly in¬ 
creasing. 
farm (Loufmit). 
A BUG WAGON. 
J. h. warn. 
In 1887 it seemed that the weeds and bugs 
had united and formed a trust and decided 
to monopolize the potato crop. I hired ex¬ 
tra help to look after the weeds, but the 
bugs were so bad that all hands had often 
to turn out aud sprinkle the potatoes with 
land plaster and poison, using either mos¬ 
quito netting or tin cans made on purpose. 
Hardly would we have got over the field 
when another shower would come; then 
we would have to poison the field again. 
It was during this season that I decided to 
build a bug-wagon. Accordingly after the 
season’s work was over, I secured a 50-gal¬ 
lon cask and the wheels from an old grain 
drill (rake or harrow wheels would answer 
the same purpose) and built the wagon 
shown at Fig. 44. A dasher fits closely to 
the inside of the barrel and is geared to the 
axle, as shown at the right of the barrel in 
the cut. Except when thrown out of gear, 
the cart cannot be moved without setting 
the water in motion and keeping the poison 
from settling. For gearing I used the gear¬ 
ing from the drill, but the chain and 
sprocket wheels came from a self-binder 
but even a belt over pulleys would answer 
the purpose. 
The lever held by the driver is called the 
“shifting lever”; by moving it a vei'y few 
inches to the right or left, the bar holding 
the roses in the rear is thrown many inches 
to the right or left, so as to bring the roses 
exactly above the rows of potatoes. The 
lever shown at the driver’s left is the lift¬ 
ing lever; by throwing it forward it raises 
the bar above the top of the barrel, stop¬ 
ping the flow of liquid. I have often poi¬ 
soned from eight to 10 acres of potatoes a day 
(that is 40-rod rows with water near-by), us¬ 
ing one pound of nine cent London-purple, 
or two-thirds of a pound of Paris-green to 
the acre. The cost is so triflng that one 
