1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
363 
PUBLISHER'S DESK. 
The advertisement of the Vineless Po¬ 
tato fake has appeared in some of the 
farm papers. One of them rubs in the 
deception by printing an editorial in the 
same issue guaranteeing all advertising as 
reliable. It is bad enough to advertise 
such frauds without comment or indorse¬ 
ment. but to make a special editorial plea 
for them is carrying the joke a bit too 
far. We exposed this fake some weeks 
ago and, of course, promptly refused the 
advertising order for it. Some of our 
contemporaries, however, are impartial 
about it. They give you for investment 
a choice between the seedless apple and 
the vineless potato. 
On December 3 last Horace H. Brown, 
Sugarloaf, N. Y., wrote F. H. Keeler & 
Co., commission house, of 104 Murray 
St., New York, to inquire if they could 
handle for him a carload of Christmas 
trees. A sample of trees followed, and 
further correspondence, Keeler & Co. 
finally encouraging Brown to ship about 
the 15th, so as to reach them about Mon¬ 
day. The car was shipped on the 16th, 
and was offered for delivery by the rail¬ 
road company Tuesday morning, the 19th, 
according to the agent’s written statement. 
The goods were not called for, however, 
and on the 21st, Keeler & Co. were again 
notified, and they then refused the ship¬ 
ment. It was not until Thursday after¬ 
noon that they notified Mr. Brown that 
the shipment had been refused. It was 
then, of course, too late to do anything 
with them- On December 26th Mr. 
Brown wrote Keeler & Co. asking when 
the car arrived, and what the reason was 
for refusing it. He got no reply. He re¬ 
newed his inquiry on the 29th, and got a 
curt reply stating simply that they had 
refused the goods, and that their attor¬ 
neys would be the proper parties to ad¬ 
dress, and promising to send their names 
and address if he expressed a wish to 
have it. This is a plain and we think fair 
statement of the case, as shown by the 
correspondence, and written statement of 
the railroad agent. We have ourselves 
asked Keeler _& Company to give us a 
written statement of their reasons for re¬ 
fusing the shipment. Their representa¬ 
tive at one time promised to do so, but 
it never came. If this statement of the 
case is not exact or in any way unfair to 
them, we shall gladly print their explana¬ 
tion. In the meantime we should like to 
have the opinion of other shippers in 
reference to the transaction. In view of 
all the circumstances, were the merchants 
justified in refusing the shipment, if at 
the time of arrival, there seemed little 
prospects of making a sale? It will be 
remembered that Mr. Catchpole. an apple 
shipper of North Rose, N. Y., was unable 
to get legal service of a summons on Messrs. 
Keeler & Company some time ago be¬ 
cause the process server was unable to 
locate a member of the firm, and their 
attorneys refused service. Neither of these 
shippers may be able to recover on suit, 
but in case they have a good cause for 
action they are at least temporarily em¬ 
barrassed in not being able to get their 
case in court. 
One more word about “The Farmer’s 
Garden.” We have this little book all 
ready to send you the day your renewal 
is received. You should have it now- 
Do you want it? 
DOG LAWS IN VIRGINIA. 
I will give you the dog law in my county 
(Rappahannock), and any county in the State 
can pass a dog law of its own if the senti¬ 
ment is strong enough to elect a man to the 
Legislature in favor of a dog tax. Each 
male dog is taxed 50 cents and female $1 by 
the county assessor. Any dog whose owner 
refuses to pay tax on it is supposed to he 
killed by the sheriff of the county. Anyone 
having sheep killed by dogs is paid by the 
supervisors out of the dog tax fund at 
whatever price the sheep are assessed by the 
county assessor. In case of sheep being 
damaged or lambs killed three disinterested 
persons have to estimate the loss of the 
owner, which is then paid by the county 
supervisors. After paying for all sheep killed 
and damaged by dogs the remainder of the 
dog tax is turned over to the school fund. 
The best thing that I have ever found to keep 
dogs from running sheep is to have a small 
bell on about one-half of the sheep, and in 
case there were less than 30 sheep I would 
have bells on all of them, I think the advan¬ 
tage in having so many bells is that sheep 
always stay close together at night, and in 
case a dog should startle them the bells would 
make so much noise, the dog would become 
frightened. If he did run them a large num¬ 
ber of bells would make so much noise that 
they could be heard a long distance. 
F. D. WOOD. 
The Rebecca Grape. —I am making a dili¬ 
gent search for Rebecca grape. Do you know 
how I can obtain a young vine on two, or 
some wood? I have written several nursery¬ 
men and experimental stations without any 
success. I am very anxious to have it. If 
I could get enough wood for one or two 
grafts I could get along. f. p. s. 
Matteawan, N. Y. 
PUMP YOUR WATER 
LIGHT YOUR BUILDINGS 
and furnish power for your farm or shop with a 
STODDARD GASOLINE ENGINE. 
On account of their oven, steady speed 
and the ease with which they can be con¬ 
trolled, these engines are the ideal power 
for Farm. Shop or Mill use 
VERTICAL OR HORIZONTAL. 
Sold under Our Guarantee. 
STODDARD MFG. CO., 
Write for Catalog E. H. 
SIZES FROM 1% TO 100 H. P. 
Rutland, Vermont. 
rtk. 
iV' 
MR 
\ 
If you grow grain or grass of any kind, you 
are invited to call on any dealer who sells one of 
the International Line of Harvesting and Hay¬ 
ing Machines and get one of the new 1906 cata¬ 
logs. You will find it well worth your while, for 
it’s full of good grain sense—harvesting talk 
that means bigger profits for you. 
While you are there, take a few minutes and 
look at one of the harvesting machines itself. 
You will find that it comes up in every way 
to what your ideal] of a good harvesting ma¬ 
chine ought to be. 
It is convenient —easy on you and easy on 
your horses—because it embodies every labor- 
saving, draft-reducing device that the most 
expert mechanical skill of the past 50 years has 
produced. 
It lias large capacity. There is no wasted 
energy about it. It allows you to do the work 
of harvesting “in a hurry.” 
It is dependable because it is made right. 
The materials used in it—the steel, iron and 
lumber—are the products of the manufacturer’s 
own mines and mills and are right in every 
particular. There is no “guess work” about 
them. They are tested before used. 
It is an economical machine because it saves 
all your grain; it saves time; it saves labor; it 
saves repair bills; it saves worry and trouble. 
If a machine is right in its design, right in 
the materials used in its construction, right 
in its workmanship—it comes pretty nearly 
meeting every requirement you can make of it. 
Convenient—trustworthy—economical. What 
more can you ask of a harvesting machine? 
* 
This question of harvesting means much to 
you. A half day’s delay may make the dif¬ 
ference between profit and loss on your crop. 
The grain a poor machine or a worn-out 
machine wastes , is just so much from your 
profit. 
It’s too late now to reduce the cost of growing 
the crop—too late to increase the yield—your 
only chance is to get it all in the harvesting 
and to get it at the least expense of time and 
money. 
If you grow grain, you need a good harvester. 
If you grow hay, you need good haying ma¬ 
chines. 
It is economy to get the best you can find 
International dealers have them. 
Champion Milwauke 
Deering Osborne 
McCormick Plano 
f Go to the dealer and see for yourself. 
If you don’t know him, write to us for his 
name and address. 
International Harvester Company of America, Chicago 
(Incorporated) 
INTERNATIONAL LINE. 
Binders, Reapers, Headers, Header-Binders, Corn-Binders, Corn-Shockers, Corn-Pickers, Huskers 
and Shredders, Corn Shellers, Mowers, Hay Tedders, Hay Rakes, Sweep Rakes, Hay Loaders, Hay Stackers, 
Hay Balers, Knife Grinders, Gasoline Engines, Pumping Jacks, Manure Spreaders, Weber Wagons, Columbus 
Wagons, Bettendorf Wagons and Binder Twine. 
Remember: 
There’s a good old proverb about ^the impossibility 
of making a silk purse from a sow’s “ear. 
It is equally impossible to make a good machine 
from poor materials—or unsuitable materials. 
And likewise impossible to make a good machine 
even from good materials, without proper skill and 
proper facilities. 
Every farmer knows bow much harder it is today to 
get good lumber than it was 20 years ago. 
Every manufacturer knows bow difficult it is to get 
other materials of exactly the right kind at exactly 
the right time. 
It was to overcome these difficulties that the several 
manufacturers of the various machines comprising the 
International Line, co-operated with each other in pro¬ 
ducing their own raw materials. 
They cut and saw their own lumber, in their own 
forests; they dry it in their own kilns, and they have 
it ready when they need it. 
They mine their own iron and coal; they make their 
own coke and steel, and they produce much of the 
other materials used in their factories. 
The result is that they do not have to try “to make 
a silk purse from a sows’s ear.” They have the prop¬ 
er materials at hand, when they need them. 
Nor is that all. The International Line of machines 
for harvesting and haying embraces only machines 
which have stood the test of time and hear the stamp 
of approval of the American farmer. 
Consequently there is always a good demand for 
them, and this demand makes possible the employ¬ 
ment, in their manufacture, of the most expert work¬ 
men and the best facilities that the mechanical genius 
of the world has produced. 
It is these things that make the International ma¬ 
chines so satisfactory to the user. 
