412 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Entered at New York as Second Class Matter. 
Herbert W. Coi.ungwood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet,! . 
Mrs. K. T. Koyle, (Associates. 
John J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. $2 04 
equal to Ss. Gd., or 8*4 marks, or 10 Yj 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 ^ ,1E ^ I KAI - New-Yorker when writing the adver- 
Natne 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, MAY 12, 1906. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order 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. 
* 
WHERE DID HE GET IT? 
W e ask Joint F. Spencer, of Colorado, to tell where 
the so-called Seedless apple came from. He knows 
it no one else docs. 1 his is a matter of some impor¬ 
tance, and a correct statement from Mr. Spencer could 
do no harm to the variety. 
* 
Some western men who own hundreds of oxen never 
saw one at work. The western ox is a gentleman of 
ease compared with the strong and patient animal that 
did the work on the old eastern farm. The pictures 
printed elsewhere show that the ox is still ready for 
business. No one need think that because we print 
these pictures The R. N.-Y. advises young farmers to 
start with oxen. The point we want to bring out is 
that no matter what the team, the right kind of a man 
will make it go, and rise up to better things. 
* 
Last week, in discussing the Agricultural Appro¬ 
priation bill, various Congressmen unchained their 
voices in praise of the farmer. One man referred to 
him as the social "rock of ages"; another went back to 
old files of The R. N.-Y. to praise the American hen, 
and so on. How many of these cheap-talk gentlemen 
will vote for a parcels post? Nine out of 10 of them 
will probably pay more attention to one storekeeper 
than to 20 farmers. It is a good time for a farmer 
to find out whether he really represents five per cent 
of the value of a storekeeper or not! 
* 
Every time some member of the Apple Consumers’ 
League states his opinion of the Ben Davis apple 
friends of old Ben rush to his defense. On page 411 
one of them advances the pies which his wife can make 
from Ben Davis as a knock-down argument. There 
are other things beside apple in a good pie. We have 
eaten dried apple pies under conditions that induced us 
to ask for a third piece. Next week we shall hear from 
Colorado and Virginia where, it is said, Ben Davis 
grows as close to perfection as he can. While a man 
may remain a member of the League and eat nothing 
but Ben Davis, we can’t help feeling sorry for him. 
* 
We are planning this year to give our readers the 
best we can find. By “best" we do not mean inflated 
stories of wonderful successes, but plain, honest state¬ 
ments of results. Mr. Garrahan’s articles on chemical 
fertilizers are being carefully studied. There has been 
no more useful series of articles on Alfalfa than those 
by Mr. Cottrell. Mr. Cosgrove’s monthly poultry 
record has called out much correspondence. Now we 
can announce another feature in a market gardener’s 
story by D. L. Hartman. Mr. Hartman was a school¬ 
teacher. He bought a small and cheap farm in Penn¬ 
sylvania. His first year’s sales brought $351. Last 
year, the seventh after buying, the sales from 30 acres 
amounted to $4,108.23. Mr. Hartman will tell us clear¬ 
ly and without any flourish, how this was done. Surely 
the story of how a man increased his income from 
$351 to $4,100 is worth more to our readers that} file 
record of a millionaire! 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
We were recently asked to name the four richest 
States in the Union. What is wealth? We consider 
the three items of farm values, farm products for one 
year and capital invested in manufacturing as a fair 
statement. Judged by this standard the States rank, 
according to the last census, as follows: 
Farm \ alues l'ear’s Crop Manufactures.. Total 
Ill... ..?2,007,316,897 345,649,611 776,829,598 3,129 796 106 
7 s- Y ‘ L069,723,895 245.270,600 1,651,210,220 2.906,205.215 
1.834.34;».;>46 365,411,528 102,733,103 2.302.490 177 
Ohio.. 1,198,923,946 257,005,826 005,792,260 2,0GL782j038 
It ought to make some people thoughtful to realize 
that Illinois has more money invested in farm prop¬ 
erty than New York has in manufacturing! 
* 
Would you sign such a contract as is printed on page 
406? Think for a moment how one-sided such an 
agreement is. The nurseryman receives nearly one 
dollar each for pear trees. The grower does not know 
what they are, and should they prove untrue to name 
there is nothing in the contract which nould enable 
him to hold the nurseryman responsible. As for these 
new and wonderful fruits, it can be stated as a safe 
proposition that no new variety can demonstrate Its 
superior market value without passing the test of the 
recognized fruit authorities. What nonsense then to 
take the word of an interested stranger without con¬ 
sulting those who know. We have explained and ex¬ 
posed these things again and again, yet year after year 
people walk into the same old trap. The element of 
human nature which enables a smart rogue to make his 
customers believe that he is giving them a special 
chance to make money is hard to overcome. 
* 
The bill removing the internal revenue tax from grain 
alcohol passed the National House promptly. It is be¬ 
lieved that the Senate will kill it—or hold it back in 
some committee, which amounts to the same thing. The 
shame of such an act must be apparent to any honest 
man. 1 his bill will benefit a dozen classes of manu¬ 
facturers, provide increased outlet for farm products 
and, in time, substitute fair competition in the place of 
monopoly in lighting, heating and power. Such things 
make it very clear even to the dullest mind that the 
United States Senate as at present constituted does not 
act in the true interests of the people. A combination 
of shrewd money-making lawyers with men with whom 
solemn dignity has become a disease can be relied upon 
to ignore a fair expression of popular desire. Think, 
for example, what a ridiculous figure New York State 
cuts in the Senate! Will it always be so? No—we 
shall find a way to hit these Senators yet! 
May 12. 
stations. The new scale remedy would be turned over 
to the scientists for investigation. While some fruit 
growers would try it most of them would wait for 
experiments. It cannot be said that the scientists try 
to kill off new remedies and varieties, though it may 
seem so to the originators. It is a kindness to the 
public to make these tests as hard as possible so thaf 
only the most worthy can survive. 
The Chinese farm hand question will not down. We 
are receiving many letters from people in various parts 
of the country, and the sentiment expressed is very 
largely against the admission of the Chinese. As we 
stated three weeks ago, very few eastern farmers would 
think of hiring the Chinese if the labor question had 
not become desperate. Men in desperate situations 
sometimes turn to desperate remedies, and find the 
situation worse. The prevailing opinion is that such 
would be the outcome if we were to admit the Chinese. 
The following extract from a Pacific Coast paper is 
significant: 
It has long been a question in San Francisco what should 
be done with Chinatown, and moving the Chinese in the di¬ 
rection of Colraa has been agitated. Now they are without 
homes and without prospects of securing any. They can 
get no land. The limits of Oakland’s Chinatown have al¬ 
ready been extended, and the strictest police regulations 
are in force to prevent further enlargement. On this side 
of the bay they are camping in open lots, but of course this 
is the merest temporary shelter. Unless the Government 
undertakes their relief they are in grave danger. Those 
who have money cannot purchase property, as no one will 
sell to them. 
No one wants the Chinese near them. We shall soon 
print some letters from readers on the Pacific Coast, 
which will explain why. 
Most readers will remember the discussions in The 
R. N.-Y. last Winter regarding the horse thief. This 
young man stole a horse from our correspondent. Geo. 
A. Cosgrove. The horse was recovered and the boy 
convicted in Massachusetts of another crime and sent 
to jail. The question was whether Mr. Cosgrove 
should press the charge for horse-stealing against the 
boy and thus keep him in prison. The great majority 
of those who wrote favored mercy for the boy. A 
few cool heads would keep him in prison, but most of 
the writers thought the boy should have a chance to 
reform. He had it, since he was released before pa¬ 
pers conveying the new charge were presented. In¬ 
stead of reforming he became worse than ever. In 
some way he obtained a pistol, and held up various 
people, robbing them and compelling women to cook 
food for him. He came back to his old stamping ground 
and robbed Mr. Cosgrove again—then made for Mas¬ 
sachusetts, where he terrorized a section until farmers 
banded together and hunted him down like a wild 
beast. Here was a case of “natural depravity.” It is 
doubtful if this boy wanted to “reform,” and after this 
last exploit there will be few who advise “another 
chance.” It is not safe to have such characters at large 
in rural neighborhoods. 
We have a letter from a western man who is evi¬ 
dently honest and sincere. He admits that he never 
saw a specimen of the San Jose scale, yet he has in¬ 
vented a remedy or method of fighting the insect! He 
believes it to be a sure remedy—such things usually 
are in the eyes of an inventor, until some cold-blooded 
man of business rubs off the gloss. This man thinks 
he can obtain a patent and sell orchard or town rights. 
He wants us to tell him honestly what we think of 
his chances. It seems like a cruel thing to blight the 
hopes of an inventor. Their dreams are rosy, and the 
money that the invention might bring is needed, and 
would be well spent. This man, however, probably has 
no chance at all. It is absurd, in the first place, to 
suppose that one who never saw the insect at work 
could devise a method of killing it that would be 
cheaper or simpler than fumigation or the use of lime 
and sulphur or the oils. Even if it proved superior, the 
plan of selling orchard or township rights would kill 
it. So many rogues have tried to operate in that way 
that even an honest man who tried it would most 
likely be classed as a fraud. Farmers are coming more 
and more to rely upon the reports of the experiment 
What merit has the Seedless apple? Why should 
any man pay a high price for it and plant it? We print 
on page 409 an opinion from a Colorado fruit grower. 
We go to Colorado first, because that State is the 
home of the Seedless, and it ought to be at its best 
there. Of course it argues nothing that the Seedless 
Company were silent during that great fruit conven¬ 
tion. Possibly they are not “boomers” after all. but 
very modest and retiring gentlemen who are sitting on 
a bushel in an effort to bide a powerful light. The 
business fruit growers of Colorado ought to know, and 
we are going to them for information. One of them 
wiites that there is “lots of wind” in some things they 
start out there. Let it be clearly understood that we 
are not trying to prove that this apple is worthless. 
We merely want the facts, no matter whether they 
agree with our opinions or not. What is the apple 
good for? It is a pity that we cannot induce John F. 
Spencer to tell how he started the apple. The pomol- 
ogists at Washington write us that they cannot dis¬ 
tinguish any difference between the “Seedless.” and 
one of the old seedlings now quite common in Vir¬ 
ginia and West Virginia. As we have pointed out be¬ 
fore, it is proper enough to introduce and sell trees 
budded or grafted from these old seedlings provided 
they have merit. It would be fairer to the public and 
better for the introducer to state frankly where the 
variety came from. After all, merit is the’test, and we 
shall keep asking —What is the Seedless apple good for? 
BREVITIES. 
One way to get it out is to “rub it in." 
'iou haven’t exhausted the home market yet. 
Are you afraid of the Congressman from your district? 
The man who sincerely hunts for the truth will surely 
stub his toe at times. 
The man who simply does what he has to will neither set 
the world on fire nor put out a dangerous conflagration. 
We shall find that, contrary to general belief, the tem¬ 
perature of the broody hen is rather below the average of 
the laying hen 
Has any reader ever noticed any bad results from feed¬ 
ing Aisike clover—green or as hay? We have foiind it a 
good hay plant, especially for moist land. Are complaints 
against it justified? 
Congressman Wadsworth of New York has done well in 
trying to shut off the free seed humbug. On the oleo ques¬ 
tion a few years ago he was wrong. 
It is reported that Prof. H. W. Conn has succeeded in iso¬ 
lating and cultivating the bacteria that give Camembert 
cheese its characteristic flavor. This discovery will enable 
American cheese makers to duplicate the expensive imported 
product. 
Moth balls are a novelty in poultry supplies, but their 
use in nesis to drive away vermin, as recommended by a 
woman poultry keeper, seems a good plan. We shall also 
tiy them to drive away squash bugs, as recommended by 
another reader. 
According to the British fiscal report just presented to 
Parliament, there has been a steady diminution in the rev¬ 
enues from spirits, beer and wine, while the post office re¬ 
ceipts were £1,000,090 in excess of the preceding year. Evi¬ 
dently the country is not losing by parcels post. 
A Jersey man once started and carried out a singular 
poultry experiment. He hunted in New York for the brown- 
est eggs he could find without knowing where they came 
from and set them under hens. Most were infertile, but 
after considerable time he had a flock of fair Buff Cochins. 
Another man had a hobby for buying all the natural horn¬ 
less cows he could find. He finally got a herd of good 
milkers, and quite uniform. 
