492 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 24, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Herbert w. Collingwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, i ._. . „ 
Mrs. K. T. Koylk, Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. 6d., 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 trifling 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 to us within one 
month of the time of the transaction, and you must have 
mentioned The Rural New-Yorker when writing the adver¬ 
tiser. 
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. 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 1905. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to introduce The 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. 
* 
PRIZES FOR GARDEN PLANS. 
We offer prizes of $5, $3 and $2 for the best three 
plans for a farmer’s garden. We want a drawing show¬ 
ing how the garden was planted, and a brief statement 
of the vegetables grown, the work required and some¬ 
thing about the product. We want only plans of 
farmers’ gardens, showing how a good supply of vege¬ 
tables can he provided year after year without inter¬ 
fering with the regular farm work. We do not want 
essays on amateur gardening or stories of special work, 
but simply accounts of plain farmers’ gardens. The 
drawings and essays must be here by August 1. 
* 
Last week we suggested that the scientific men at the 
experiment stations might well spend their vacation in 
working as hired men. No doubt some of them will 
take the suggestion. Farmers may perhaps entertain 
scientists unawares, as others have entertained angels 
before now. Or will the scientist in search of such infor¬ 
mation as the hired man’s job affords be as rare as an 
angel’s visit? 
* 
I he San Jose scale has appeared in those rough land 
orchards in Connecticut. Mr. Barnes feels confident 
that lie can hold the insect in check by thorough spray¬ 
ing with lime, sulphur and salt. Results with this mix¬ 
ture thus far are such as to give peach growers on 
these hills great confidence in their ability to protect 
the trees. No one expects to exterminate the scale, but 
we must admire the confidence of those who use lime 
and sulphur in their ability to save the trees. 
* 
It ought to be clear to most farmers by this time that 
the State bounties on beet sugar have been of little 
benefit to actual farmers. A few factory men and large 
ranchmen in the West have pocketed most of the bounty 
thus far paid. In New York State beet sugar making 
is a failure. We might as well admit it now. The beets 
can be grown, but the conditions of labor are such that 
farmers cannot undertake to keep a crop of any size 
clean. The Germans are far better able to produce beet 
sugar. Sugar tariffs and bounties in this country have 
severely hurt the German beet sugar industry. This is 
reacting upon our own trade, because the Germans, 
unable to sell their sugar here, are refusing to buy our 
grain, meat and fruit. Our export trade in such products 
will be curtailed if the sugar duties are kept up. If 
farmers were really benefited by such duties it would be 
another thing, but the great majority of them buy their 
sugar, so that the refiners and dealers are chiefly bene¬ 
fited. 
* 
We have often been asked if public spraying cannot 
be done in much the same way that wood saws or 
thrashing machines are operated. Mr. Bugbee, on page 
486, tells us about his outfit which, we understand, is 
quite successful. In Wayne and other New York fruit 
counties this public spraying is becoming general, in 
some cases hand pumps being used. The price for this 
service runs from $5 per day up. In Canada the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture started several spraying outfits. 
The first year charge was made of three cents a tree. 
This was raised later to four cents, and then to five 
cents. It was estimated that a single outfit could 
manage about 3,000 trees during the season. This 
demonstration by the Government proved very success¬ 
ful—so much so that a number of private outfits are 
now being operated. We believe that this plan of public 
spraying is sure to be extended. It is a good thing for 
the community, and apparently a paying job for the 
owner. 
* 
It is reported that the bacteriologists of the Pasteur 
Institute at Paris have discovered the microbe of the 
Tsetse fly, which, in some parts of South Africa, renders 
the keeping of cattle and horses impossible. The Tsetse 
is a small yellow-striped fly with a short proboscis; 
it is harmless to man and to many wild animals, yet 
so fatal to horses and cattle that it is more dreaded 
than the plague As a rule it is found in the neigh¬ 
borhood of water, some of the worst “fly belts” being 
on the Zambesi and Limpopo rivers. The British South 
Africa Company, which has spent a good deal of time 
and money in the investigation of this fly, tried intro¬ 
ducing camels from India into these districts, but they 
succumbed as readily as other working cattle to the 
1 setse. If the French bacteriologists have finally iso¬ 
lated the germ poison of the Tsetse, the next step will 
he material for inoculation which will render animals 
immune. It is an example of the far-reaching power 
of modern science, when work in a laboratory half a 
world away may solve industrial problems that vex the 
minds of Rhodesian pioneers. 
* 
On page 460 we printed a letter from Prof. G. B. 
Brackett, pomologist of the United States Department 
of Agriculture. 'I he Seedless apple people attempted 
to make capital out of Prof. Brackett’s name, and he 
promptly called them to time. We now have the follow¬ 
ing note from him: 
No case Is hopeless as long as there are plucky men to 
fight the wrong I have ever been grateful to you for being 
a torch bearer to the uninformed. You have saved many an 
innocent from parting from his bard-earned cash. Of course 
it will be a "long time" before the public is educated, but 
let the good work continue. You are doing all you can; 
other horticulturists are helping; I am doing all I can, and 
we’ll stick by our duty. The Seedless apple fake needs as 
thorough eradication as the cattle plague. We are on the 
side of justice, and we owe to fruit growers a duty. You 
have never known how sincerely grateful to you I have 
been for your fearless work. g. b. brackett. 
United States Pomologist. 
As we shall show before long, the Seedless apple 
people have organized a company for the sale of stock. 
Among the items of expense mentioned in their circular 
we find $10,000 for advertising! It will be interesting 
to see where that money is spent. 
★ 
A recent letter from West Virginia contains the 
following: ■« > 
Enclosed you will find a couple of nails exposed to the 
weather for 42 years. They were driven in 1863 into a roof 
made of shaved Red oak shingles and Red oak lath. Now 
the shingles have rotted away, leaving the nails with their 
ends sticking in the lath. When we consider the quantity 
of acid in Red oak the preservation of these nails becomes 
a wonder. 
The nails were in a remarkable state of preservation— 
actually better than cut nails which we put in a roof 
five years ago. Why can we not buy such nails now? 
In what respect are these nails different from the poor 
stuff sold at the present time? That is what farmers 
want to know about nails and wire. The Department 
of Agriculture has started an investigation. What are 
they finding out? The first report is that the trouble is 
largely due to “electrolytic action.” This means that 
the metals of which the nails and wire "are made is 
decomposed by an electric current. This action appears 
to be caused by the manganese in the metal. In the 
Bessemer process of steel making manganese is added 
to the molten metal, and is seldom evenly distributed 
all through the mass. Prof. Cushman, who is conduct¬ 
ing the Government tests, believes that this fault of 
manufacture is the cause of decay in modern fence wire. 
Thus far good. Having found the reason for the 
trouble show us how to know that we are buying good 
wire. 
* 
There is a beautiful little town in central New York 
not far from Ithaca, where the influence of Cornell 
University has done much to strengthen the taste for 
nature study. The community itself, progressive and 
intelligent, is founded upon industries near to nature, 
and is disposed to appreciate the work of those who 
seek the betterment of country life. That town has 
adopted “Uncle John” Spencer with enthusiasm, and 
when he visits them, to see how the nature study clubs 
are getting along, the entire school census meets him at 
the railway station, with enough prominent citizens to 
give his reception the character of a royal progress. 
There is something very delightful about this spontane¬ 
ous display of genuine feeling, which should make us 
better able to appreciate a silent force which will gradu¬ 
ally change conditions in country life. A great many 
educators have treated rural communities merely as 
warehouses from which to draw the strongest forces 
of national life. I hey have thanked the country for 
the young vigor it supplied them, while drawing it away 
into other fields. The new education, however, is fitting 
our young people for the best development of rural life, 
by showing the opportunities, pleasures and comforts 
that there abide. I hose who are so extending the work 
of our great universities as to bring them in close touch 
with rural life are insuring a reciprocal benefit, for 
whatever form of culture they extend flows back to 
them in that broader life that only comes through a 
closer contact with the primeval forces of Mother Earth. 
♦ 
Some extra precautions may well be taken in the 
care of the work team during hot, muggy weather. The 
sun bears on like a hot iron; flesh galls quickly; diges¬ 
tion is more easily disturbed, and the whole system is 
under a strain that is likely to irritate any weak spot 
or organ to the point of collapse. A little good judg¬ 
ment shown in giving two or three minutes’ rest now 
and then during a hard pull c.i plow, harrow or mower, 
sponging the shoulders at noon and night, and mod¬ 
erate feeding until somewhat rested will avoid many 
of these troubles. Sometimes it is a great comfort to a 
horse to add a half hour to the usual nooning, and he 
can without harm make up the lost time at either end of 
the day. Some protection to the top of the head is 
useful when the sun is beating down very hard. Many 
of the city truck horses have a straw hat with holes 
for the ears, tied to the headstall, but it ought to be 
very open, as otherwise the horse’s head, not being 
accustomed to a covering, will get very hot. A piece 
of wet sponge tied to top of headstall is also useful. 
* 
We have often referred to the inability of American 
farm laborers to form a labor union like those which 
have given so much power to city and town workmen. 
Efforts have been made in various parts of the country 
to organize hired men or farm hands, but we have never 
been able to find records of any such organization that 
lasted six months! A little over 30 years ago an organ¬ 
ization of English farm laborers brought a new force 
into England politics. In 1872 the English “farm 
hand as we would call him in this country, had prac¬ 
tically no public standing. It was stated that while the 
landlords lived better than most princes and the tenant 
farmers had plenty to eat, drink and wear, the laborers, 
who did the rough work, were at the verge of starva¬ 
tion. 1 he trades unions in city and town were very 
strong, and politicians gladly listened to them. Tt was 
not dreamed, however, that the farm laborers had sense 
or ambition enough even to ask for political power. 
Suddenly the public was startled to learn that these 
despised laborers had formed a union. Joseph Arch, a 
Methodist preacher, started the movement, which spread 
rapidly. Arch was sensible enough to keep out of poli¬ 
tics and confine himself to a fair statement of the 
wrongs of the farm laborer as a class. The result was 
that the English people enfranchised these peasants, giv¬ 
ing them a vote which was formerly denied. In this 
country, at least at the North, it cannot he said that the 
farm hand has any special grievance. He has, in fact, 
the advantage of the farmer, for good hands are in 
great demand, and can usually make their own terms. 
This is one reason why “unions” have never been suc¬ 
cessful. Except in some special localities they are not 
needed, since the lack of competition gives the advantage 
to the hired man. 
BREVITIES. 
Fight shy of a fight. 
What Is so raw as a (lay in June, ’05? 
Ten to one your best successes have been your failures. 
Hard to find—growers who spray strawberries to prevent 
rust or blight. 
A friend on Staten Island says Corsican is one of the 
most satisfactory strawberries he is trying this year. We 
do not know it—what do our other friends say about it? 
Rich deposits of amlier have been recently exploited in 
the Province of Santiago, Dominican Republic. It is at the 
headwaters of the Lieey River, about 1,800 feet above sea 
level. 
A railroad train recently ran a mile in 35 seconds. On 
Long Island a contest in passenger service between railroad 
cars and autos shows that the latter carry passengers at 
less than half the cost of railroad service. 
President Reyes of Colombia has just promulgated a de¬ 
cree establishing a government monopoly of the production, 
introduction and sale of liquors, cigars, cigarettes and 
matches. We think that Senor Reyes would be able to 
attained considerable distinction as a picturesque trust 
buster. 
During the past few years there has been an increased 
use for coal ashes. On some farms where these ashes were 
formerly thrown away they are now carefully saved for 
mulching around bush fruits and young trees. While there 
is little, if any, direct fertilizing value in coal ashes they 
are useful if well handled. 
