46o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
The Pural New-Ynrkpr corporations refused to pay the tax. It was finally car- 
\ fV 1 UI HCr ned to the Supreme Court, and that has just upheld 
the law. The corporations must pay the tax. New 
York City alone will receive $24,008,863.21 of back taxes 
and interest. 1 he decision has an importance aside 
from the fact that it will compel these corporations to 
pay their share of public expenses. It is further evi¬ 
dence of the unmistakable tendency of public feeling. 
Society has rights which public servants or workmen 
are bound to respect. J he people who obtain a fran¬ 
chise to light our streets or carry us from place to place 
or perform other public service are not our masters, but 
our workmen! 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850 . 
Herbert W. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, / . 
Mrs. K. T. Rovle, ’^Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
June lfy 
become safer on a Jersey highway. If this has no effect 
a much stronger law will be passed next year. Already 
there are. reports of Granges and farmers’ clubs in 
the State which have determined not to support any 
man for public office who owns an auto! 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union $2 04 
equal to 8s. (Id., or 8^ marks, or 10 Vi 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 col¬ 
umns, and any such swindler will be publicly exposed We 
protect subscribers against rogues, but we do' not guarantee 
to adjust trilling differences between subscribers and honest 
responsible advertisers. Neither will we be responsible for 
the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned bv the courts 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one 
mouth of the time of the transaction, and you must have 
User l0n ed I he Rural New-Yorker when writing the adver- 
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, JUNE 10, 1905. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In otder to introduce i he R. N.-Y. to progressive 
intelligent farmers who do not now take it, we send it 
10 weeks for 10 cents for strictly introductory purposes. 
We depend on our old friends to make this known to 
neighbors and friends. 
» 
Automobilists in England must be as reckless as 
they are here, as the Marquis of Queensberry recently 
applied to a magistrate for permission to carry a rifle 
and revolver to protect himself at a crossroads much 
infested by motorists, near his residence. He was told 
that he could carry the weapons after securing the 
proper license, and it seems possible that anyone who 
now tries to run down that ornament of the British 
peerage will be in a position to sympathize with the 
non-union driver of a Chicago coal wagon. 
* 
A patent insecticide is offered which is guaranteed 
to drive all the worms out of the ground. If it does 
that it should be left alone. It would be a foolish piece 
of business to try to destroy the worms in a lawn, or in 
the field. Worms are beneficial, rather than harmful, 
and there is absolutely no reason why they should be 
driven out of the ground. The robin is sometimes 
credited with being useful because of the fact that it 
eats so many worms, and that is really one of the most 
seiious charges that can be brought against the bird. 
The “foliage factory” described on first page is a 
novel enterprise. The product does not interfere with 
any farm crops. Probably the annual sales from this 
two acres of glass will equal those from 500 acres of 
average farm land. If the farmers undertook to pro¬ 
duce foliage and the glass-growers tried to grow farm 
crops both would probably fail. It is all in knowing 
the details of your trades and working them to best 
advantage. The R. N.-Y. has thousands of readers 
who are interested in glass gardening, as well as thou¬ 
sands more who rarely go inside of a glasshouse. The 
wants of such a big family are varied. Whatever they 
take up we like them to put both heart and energy 
into it. 
* 
The actions of the Japanese before and during their 
great naval victory are characteristic of the strong and 
dominant qualities of the race. Every sailor, from the 
Admiral down, knew that the life of the empire was 
at stake. With every temptation to sail forth to meet 
the enemy the Japanese controlled themselves and re¬ 
mained hidden in a safe hiding place until the Russians 
came just where they were wanted. Then the Japanese 
fell upon their enemies like a herd of tigers, with irre¬ 
sistible power. The American people generally sympa¬ 
thize with the Japanese, and glory in their victories 
without knowing exactly why. They may well stop to 
consider what this patient watching and tigerish spring 
may mean to the world’s civilization when directed 
against other nations than Russia. China has the mil¬ 
lions of untrained hands, and Japan has the minds for 
training and equipping. There are centuries of history 
yet unwritten, and Japan will do some of the writing. 
* 
It seems from Prof. Holden’s letter on page 454 that 
Iowa started the plan of conducting experiments on 
county poor farms. We learn from other sources that 
these experiments are useful. 1 hey do not attempt too 
much, and they interest farmers. The great picnics 
and other gatherings at these farms are very useful. 
We find that most of the eastern experiment station 
directors are quite shy of this plan—claiming that the 
conditions are quite different in the Eastern States. We 
shall give their opinions with some comments soon. 
* 
It seems that the ginseng growers are not all dis¬ 
couraged yet. This is what one of them says: 
It is the tricksters in the trade in dried root in New Y'ork 
who are manipulating the market to their advantage. We 
are taking advantage of the depression to get plants and seed 
cheap. 
I he R. N.-Y. will not knowingly do any injustice to 
a legitimate farm industry. We learn from the best 
authority we know of that the Chinese will not buy the 
cultivated ginseng root. After making the statement 
repeatedly no one has come forward to show that such 
roots can be sold. If the dealers are depressing the 
market purposely it ought to be easy to prove it. 
* 
Six years ago the New York Legislature passed what 
is known as the Franchise Tax law. Under this law 
public utilities, such as street cars, electric light, gas 
and telegraph plants are taxed for their special and local 
franchises. The law was important because it intro¬ 
duced a new principle of taxation. If it were legal a 
public franchise or privilege to serve the public was 
I not a private contract, but a property which came within 
reach of the Government. From the first the great cor¬ 
porations opposed the law chiefly on the plea that It 
interferes with a private contract. In effect they 
claimed that the public had no interest or rights in the 
service they gave after their contract had been made. 
The State claimed that the right to perform this public 
service constitutes a valuable and taxable property. The 
The Seedless Apple Company has issued a circular in 
which, among others, United States Pomologist Brackett 
is quoted as endorsing the seedless apple. We sent a 
copy of the circular to Prof. Brackett, asking if he had 
changed his mind. As a result he has sent the follow¬ 
ing note to the president of the company: 
A. R. S. Dokme. Dear Sir: I am just in receipt of a letter 
enclosing a clipping from your circular in which you say : 
"He have samples of the apple in our oflice, and Major 
Brackett, Chief of the Horticultural Department of the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture at Washington, lias seen our apples 
and expressed himself as conviced of their merit as a horti¬ 
cultural and commerical proposition.” 
(Signed) a. r. s. dohme. 
Please retract this statement immediately. It is absolutely 
false. I have never expressed any such opinion of this freak 
of nature. On the contrary, I have said in plainest terms 
that this apple has no commercial value, in my opinion. I 
demand that you make this correction. Please let me hear 
from you promptly. G . B . brackett. 
We are glad to say that in response to this letter Mr. 
Dohme wrote that he will at once correct the statement 
in his circular. He regrets that he was “apparently 
misinformed.” 
J 
There has been so much discussion of the automobile 
law passed by the New Jersey Legislature that we give 
a synopsis of it. Every automobile that is driven in 
the State must be numbered and licensed. Records are 
kept of all owners and all transfers of vehicles. The 
fee for registration is $1 for a single vehicle and $10 
for manufacturers. Each car must carry three lamps, 
two white in front and one red behind, all marked with 
the number. J he rate of speed is limited to 20 miles 
per hour, and drivers are compelled to proceed at a 
“reasonable speed.” When caught racing on the public 
highway or passing horses at a speed greater than a 
mile in three minutes a driver of an auto may be, on 
conviction, fined $100, or if the violation be willful/im- 
pi isoned for 10 days. In such cases any constable or 
police officer may arrest an auto driver without a war¬ 
rant. Various fines, ranging from $15 to $100, are pro¬ 
vided for, and on a second offense the fines are doubled, 
or the driver may be sent to jail for 10 days. This bill 
was the outcome of a contest between farmers and 
horsemen on one side and automobile owners on the 
other. The farmers wanted an even more stringent 
law, but it was thought best to compromise at least for 
the present. New Jersey, lying between New York and 
Philadelphia, has more than a fair share of the “sports” 
and reckless and defiant fools who seem to glory in 
their ability to frighten horses and destroy life and 
property. If this law is enforced so that a fair number 
of these rascals can be jailed instead of fined, life may 
1 he possibilities of that automobile school are dis¬ 
cussed on page 456 because some of our readers are 
evidently considering the plan of patronizing such insti¬ 
tutions. When a country boy receives a suggestion that 
by paying $25 he can receive instruction which will 
enable him to earn $100 per month he is quite likely to 
consider the suggestion a fact. The following note 
from the Boston Automobile Exchange should be read 
by anyone who thinks of investing $25 in such an enter¬ 
prise : 
In our opinion, and we are the oldest automobile concern 
in Boston, there is not one out of a hundred of the drivers 
in Boston who are earning .$100 per month, even those who 
have been in this line a year or more. We have graduates 
of this and other schools asking for positions almost every 
day, which would tend to show that the schools do not obtain 
positions for all their graduates. As for the school in ques- 
tion, it is as good as any of them, but we would not think 
of hiring a graduate of any of the schools; we would much 
lather have a green hand and teach him our own way. 
As will be seen on page 456 an auto driver may also 
be expected to act as a gentleman’s servant! We have 
no doubt that a student at such a school might obtain 
a good theoretical knowledge of the business, and alsq 
acquire some practice, but the chances of* obtaining ,1 
good job are not good enough to make it an object to 
leave a good farm. 
* 
On page 455 Judge Strong asks questions about lime • 
that have occurred to many. The proportion of lime in 
the ash of plants is far in excess of the other minerals. 
For example, ordinary wood ashes contain in one ton 
not far from 650 pounds of lime, 100 pounds of potash, 
and less than 40 of phosphoric acid. Why, then, do 
the chemists speak of three “essential elements” in 
fertilizers, and why are valuations of fertilizers figured 
on the basis of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid? 
I he answer made by the chemists is that while lime is 
essential there is usually more than enough of it in 
most soils to act as plant food. With potash and phos¬ 
phoric acid the case is different. While all soils contain 
these elements they are mostly in an Insoluble form. 
'I he plant cannot utilize them as it can the lime. Again, 
phosphoric acid as usually applied in bone or dissolved 
rock is a phosphate of lime, and supplies a large quan¬ 
tity of lime as plant food. In the majority of cases we 
do not use lime for its actual plant food value, but be¬ 
cause of its chemical action upon the soil. This action 
is varied; it sets free other plant food, notably potash, 
and sweetens or neutralizes the sour soils, thus making 
nitrogen more available. We use nitrogen, potash and 
phosphoric acid to supply plant food directly. The 
chief reason for our using lime is to fit the soil so that 
more of its plant food will be available. 
BREVITIES. 
A “devil wagon” is made devilish by the driver. 
Hope Farm furnished a sailor for the ocean yacht race, 
A chip on your shoulder is an invitation for the axe at 
your neck. 
More nitrate of potash has been used for fertilizer this 
year Ilian ever before. 
The cash price paid for silage indicates about one-fourth 
the feeding value of good hay ! 
1 he works of a man’s life are bound together. You can¬ 
not separate them and say one part must fairly represent the 
man. 
We receive a number of protests from practical sprayers 
against the use of prepared limes for making Bordeaux Mix 
ture. 
Exports from France in 1904 amounted to $864,771,500, 
lTl'lOO ^ the g° 0( I s sent by parcels post amounted to $01,- 
Ihe only chance for Russia seems to be in getting an 
American to build a new navy and then hiring Admiral Togo 
to command it ! 
While our soil is drying up, farmers 500 miles away are 
driven from their fields by the rain. General advice doesn’t 
go far in this great country. 
A dough of wheat bran or cornmeal well poisoned with 
arsenic or Paris-green sweetened with molasses is good bait 
for cutworms. It will kill chickens as well if they get at it. 
Remarkable how much less Paris-green is now thought 
necessary to kill the Codling worm than was used five years 
ago. Then one pound or more to 40 gallons of water was 
recommended. Now one pound to 100 gallons does the busi¬ 
ness. Improved pumps and nozzles are mostly responsible 
for the gain. 
A man who says “book farmers can’t teach me anything” 
was told that salt will kill wireworms. So he put a good 
handful of salt around each tomato plant. The wireworms 
haven’t sent an official announcement, but the tomato plants 
are dead ! Salt will kill the worms if you use enough of it 
to pickle them, but plants cannot stand the pickle. 
Owing to the liability of celluloid to catch fire and ex¬ 
plode under certain conditions, the Canadian Postmaster 
General has decided that articles composed of this material 
may only be mailed when packed in tin boxes with tightly 
fitting lids. The mailing of celluloid except so packed is 
prohibited, and renders the sender liable to prosecution under 
a statute regarding explosives. 
