588 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 5, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TUE BUSINESS FARMER'S PARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
11 kkijkut W. Colling wood, Editor. 
On. Wai.tkh Van Fleet, I. , 
Mus. K. T. Kovle, f Associates. 
John J. Oillox, Business Manager 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in Ihe Universal I’ostal Union, $2.04, 
equal to 8s. 0d., or 8marks, or 10Vi francs. 
“A SQUARE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is 
backed by a responsible person. Hut 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 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 Ritual 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. 
THE RURAI. NEW-YORKER, 
409 l'earl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY August 5, 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. 
* 
On page 594 Prof. S. M. Babcock makes an excellent 
point regarding the use of coloring matter in butter. 
Under the present law it gives the most practical test for 
pure butter. When oleo cannot be lawfully colored the 
yellow color in butter shows that it is pure butter fat. 
Coloring is therefore in the interests of consumers. 
* 
Reports are that the corn crop is gaining every day. 
Few things will do more to bring prosperity to all the 
people than a "bumper” crop of corn. It will make food 
for man and beast cheaper, give the railroads and 
handlers work, and bring needed money to the farm. 
Corn isn’t king—it <s president, elected by sunshine, 
labor and plant food. Hurrah for corn! Keep the 
cultivators moving if you can. 
* 
There has not been anything quite like this year’s 
potato market before. At one time it was next to im¬ 
possible to give potatoes away. Prices were too low 
to be ridiculous. The southern crop rushed north to 
find the markets full of old potatoes, and the meeting 
of the two meant ruin for many growers. All of a 
sudden the price jumped. Good potatoes have been 
selling at $2, with fair prospects for continued demand; 
as drought in some sections and floods in others have 
cut the yield. 
* 
We hear now and then of the “yellow peril.” This 
means the danger that the yellow races, like the Chinese, 
will spread through the world, carrying habits and ways 
of living that are offensive to Europe and America. 
There seems to us greater danger from another form 
of "yellow.” The color has come to be accepted as the 
badge of cowardice. A man is said to have a “yellow 
streak” when he lacks the moral courage to stand up to 
the responsibilities which public and private duty impose. 
It is this form of “yellow” which menaces the country. 
No nation can stand long when dodgers form the foun¬ 
dation. 
* 
The rural mail delivery system is still growing. There 
are now 32,058 routes—a gain of 7,492 over last year. 
Plans are being made to number the boxes on a rural 
route somewhat like the mail boxes in a post office. 
Free mail delivery has become a settled part of life in 
many country neighborhoods. While, as with every 
other public convenience, there are some causes for com¬ 
plaint, the people would never permit the system to be 
given up. On the other hand they demand an exten¬ 
sion of the privilege. The success of free delivery is the 
best argument for a parcels post, which we shall surely 
have just as soon as 40,000,000 country people realize 
that they are more powerful than five express companies. 
* 
T he discussion of the merits of Sutton Beauty apple 
is important to New England growers. Baldwin is the 
standard variety east of the Hudson River. Growers 
from Virginia or the West often ask why New England 
sticks to the Baldwin apple. They cannot grow superior 
specimens of it—at least other varieties do better with 
them—and so they wonder. Baldwin has merits which 
commend it to growers where it thrives. It "stands 
New England conditions of culture, is of good color, 
keeps well and has a reputation in the market. The 
name is familiar to buyers, and the shape and color are 
easily recognized. While recognizing its good qualities, 
growers understand that Baldwin is not perfect, and 
that a better variety is needed. It was hoped that Sutton 
Beauty would combine Baldwin’s good qualities with a 
few superior ones, but this is not likely from present 
appearances. Baldwin growers will stick to the old 
stand-by until something very much better appears. 
They are wise in doing so. 
* 
At this season the fly plague is a nuisance in many 
farmhouses It is a discomfort to the dwellers therein 
as long as daylight lasts; it soils all sorts of domestic 
gear abominably, and it is an ever present danger in the 
transmission of disease. Yet the trouble is too often 
regarded as inevitable, whereas it is merely an indica¬ 
tion of unsanitary conditions. The common house fly 
lays its eggs in the refuse from horse and cow stables; 
the bluebottle breeds in decaying animal matter; the 
green bottlefly prefers the refuse from a cow stable, and 
one small black fly, often very troublesome, breeds in 
the dust under carpets. There should be no exposed 
decaying animal matter on any farm where sanitary 
conditions are observed. Garbage and other wastes 
should be treated with chloride of lime, or covered with 
dry earth if not burned. The treatment of manure, 
where much stock is kept, is a more difficult matter. 
Some entomologists say that manure pits should be 
screened, which does not sound very practical. There 
should be, however, no exposed manure piles; the stock 
should be sprayed with fly-killer, and the stables should 
be treated with disinfectants. We know that flies carry 
hospital gangrene, tuberculosis, typhoid fever and oph¬ 
thalmia; that they are irritating, dirty and disgusting. 
We need to start a campaign against them as well as 
against mosquitoes. 
* 
The greed of the express companies is felt by States 
as well as by individuals. In Maine fish hatcheries are 
maintained so as to obtain fry for stocking lakes and 
streams. The express companies charged the fish com¬ 
missioners $600 for carrying liver to be fed to these 
young fish. The total cost of the meat was $1,375! 
Many of the railroads give free transportation to fish 
fry and food, but the express companies are not giving 
anything aw r ay. They take the pound of flesh when¬ 
ever they can get it. It is a good thing, because after 
awhile they will drain the people to a point where they 
will fight for a parcels post. Field and Stream puts 
it well: 
The five great express corporations have, in the past year, 
been the indirect cause of the quite considerable curtailment 
of the usefulness of the rural mail carriers of the country, 
by the order of July 1, 1904, forbidding it. F. D. carriers to 
carry anything that was not strictly mail matter. We should 
have had the parcels post long ere this were it not for the 
express companies. But if the express companies are strong¬ 
er than the United States Government, they are not stronger 
than the American people. The farmers will have their 
parcels post, and that ere very long. Assuredly every sports¬ 
man will appreciate it ; for who has not been “stung” through 
the greed of the express companies? 
The “sportsmen” have taken a good deal of game 
from farms that by right belonged to farmers. It is 
high time they came forward to help. Let them shoot 
a few letters at Hon. Thomas C. Platt, and set the dogs 
of their influence after him! 
* 
What has been gained by the talk about poor fence 
wire? Several things. The Department of Agriculture 
has started an investigation into wire making. The first 
report is that modern wire gives out more rapidly than 
the old, because in its manufacture the manganese is 
not thoroughly distributed. We have called the attention 
of wire manufacturers to this report. Some doubt it, 
others are inclined to admit it, and others dodge and 
decline to answer. To sum it up it looks as though the 
Government had located one part of the trouble. The 
“galvanizing” is now being investigated, and we shall 
before long, know definitely about the use of lead and 
pewter in place of zinc. This was the first step to take. 
We cannot demand good wire until we know just what 
"good” wire is—what the metal of the wire itself should 
be, and what ? test of the galvanizing should show. 
That must carm first, and after considerable urging it 
now looks as if the Government chemists would tell us. 
When we know what to demand and how to make sure 
we can buy wire to advantage. Since the crusade 
began most wire manufacturers have begun to make 
two or even three grades of wire. They now offer 
a “double galvanized” wire, with which they seem 
willing to give a form of guarantee. This shows 
what they ca: do, and gives farmers a chance to buy 
good wire if they will pay the price. This extra price 
is now too much in excess of that charged for ordinary 
wire. Farmers who buy wire in large quantities now 
offer to buy subject to a chemist’s test—just as they 
would buy fertilizers, mixed feed or other materials in 
which adulteration is possible. In this way they are 
able to obtain good wire and at a fair price. What 
these men do at private expense should be done for the 
smaller farmer at public expense—just as is now done 
in buying other goods. We started out with the prop¬ 
osition that ordinary modern fence wire is greatly 
inferior to the old product. This has been proved and 
we now know that the fault has been both in the wire 
and in the galvanizing. We also claim that it is the 
duty of the experiment stations to find out for us what 
standard wire is, and then protect us as they do with 
fertilizers and feeds. This proposition is correct, but 
it hangs fire a little because farmers do not quite realize 
what it means. Some of them believe that the only 
way to fight a trust is to go at it with a club. A surer 
way is to get the Government chemists to pour their 
acids on to it. We '.’.all keep up the fight for better 
wire. It will come when farmers realize the necessity 
of calling upon the stations for help. Keep at the 
manufacturers, and ask them if they will sell on a 
chemist’s test! 
* 
The agricultural press of the country is not gaining 
in character and reputation over the siand it is taking 
on the scandal in the Agricultural Department. With 
a few notable exceptions such papers are simply using 
whitewash with so little lime that it is not much better 
than whitened water. We submit that this is not the 
way to obtain a strong and useful A ricultural Depart¬ 
ment. Our present Department is fairly open to crit¬ 
icism. It has grown rapidly—so rapidly that in some 
departments its growth may be compared to that of a 
mushroom. It seems to us that in several cases scien¬ 
tific accuracy and conservative statement have been put 
to one side in order to secure both popular favor and 
political support. It ought to be evident to any thought¬ 
ful man that a great National Department cannot long 
hold the confidence of the people if it is to be operated 
more and more in this way. It is time to stop and over¬ 
haul the Department before it gains the wrong sort of 
a reputation. A good proportion of American farmers 
have thus far cheerfully agreed to the plan of spending 
large sums of money in the name of “scientific agri¬ 
culture.” Having given the Department and the experi¬ 
ment stations the fairest kind of a start they now want 
to be assured that they receive the value of their money. 
The time has come when it is no longer a kindness to 
sit still and praise the work of Department and stations 
without qualifications. They must give practical value 
for a dollar, and useless work and showy officials must 
be nipped off just as we pinch off useless buds on a 
young tree. Get them off now or farmers will use a 
s w later on. Ugly stories are beginning to appear in 
the papers about further disclosures of “graft” and cor¬ 
ruption in the Department. This was to be expected, 
but we shall pay no attention to them from hearsay evi¬ 
dence alone. Our criticism is directed against the work 
of the Department in scientific and investigation lines. 
BREVITIES . 
The hardest “eateh crop" just now is to catch up with 
the weeds. 
Will your farm produce more than it would 10 years 
ago? If not, why not? 
Sunflowers make good silage, according to a correspond¬ 
ent who is feeding this crop. 
It is reported that in Southeast New England farmers 
are actually taking “help” away from the cotton mills. 
Mu. Cook advises thorough sterilization as a remedy for 
stringy milk, page 595. In other words, boil everything hut 
the cow and the dairyman. 
It would surprise a farmer to see how many New Y'ork 
working people eat one or two tomatoes for lunch. In some 
places tomatoes are beginning to he sold on the fruit stands. 
Ephialtes earbonarius is the name of a parasite brought 
from Spain to California to tight the Codling moth. It 
really seems to be “making good” in that climate, and has 
begun to destroy the moths. 
The Italian Ambassador at Washington, has been investi¬ 
gating labor conditions at the South, with a view to divert¬ 
ing Italian immigrants from the city slums to southern 
plantations. Southern planters are much interested. 
Wiiat is “chocolate corn?” A correspondent of the New 
Y'ork Sun says: “This corn grows something like broom 
corn, with a small cob like popcorn, and the kernel is dark 
brown like chocolate. When I was a boy almost every farmer 
raised a little of this corn for family use to make drink 
out of much like chocolate.” 
Actual experience with feeding clover silage to little pigs 
is hard to obtain. This is the best thus far, from E. II. 
Bancroft, of Delaware: “Ills hogs would certainly eat the 
clover silage mixed with middlings, and my experience is 
that the pigs are prompt to learn. Though I have not the 
exact experience the case calls for. I think the proposition 
safe.” 
The Sportsmen's Club of Canandaigua Lake is trying to 
remove the placid hut unnecessary carp from that lake, 
having secured legislative authority to use nets in the work. 
They say that the stomach of an eight-pound carp often 
contains four pounds of the spawn of other fish, and that it 
is useless to stock water with trout and bass where the 
carp abounds. 
