786 
October 20, 
T 
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. Collingwood, Editor. 
DR. WALTER VAN FLEET, ( A „nniatpa 
Mrs. E. T. Kovle, (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 8y a marks, or 10% francs. 
“A SQUARE DEAL.” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is 
hacked by a responsible person. But to make doubly sure 
v.-e 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. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1906. 
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 PHOTOGRAPHS. 
$5, $4, $3. 
We offer these cash prizes for the best Thanksgiving 
photographs. They must be original, picture scenes of 
country life, and represent the spirit of Thanksgiving. 
The size does not matter. The pictures must be in our 
hands by November 1. We will pay for all pictures 
used, and photos not used will be returned if desired, 
postage fully prepaid. 
* 
Yes, we favor State laws definitely forbidding Repre¬ 
sentatives and Senators to act as paid lawyers or agents 
for corporate interests! How then would these gentle¬ 
men gain wealth? Resign the office! Some of our 
public servants would be far more useful if they could 
actually know what it is to walk arm in arm with hon¬ 
orable poverty. 
* 
Never before have we had so many questions about 
the soil and odd things connected with it, or about the 
use of fertilizers. This is especially true of western 
readers, and we shall give extra attention to these 
topics through the season. 1 he ablest men in the 
country will help, and practical farmers will be used to 
check off the scientific men. 
* 
Our old friend Mapes the hen man is getting into his 
old-time stride. Next week he gives a very clear state¬ 
ment of his reasons for making the new “hen barn” 
tight. This experiment of keeping 500 liens 1 in one 
building will be watched and studied by thousands of 
poultrymen, and we shall see how quickly they come in 
whenever they think Mapes goes wrong. We expect 
this to be the most interesting hen experiment that has 
been reported in years. 
* 
We call that a very sensible article on beef cattle 
printed on the first page. This is one way to get around 
the hired help question where milkers cannot be ob¬ 
tained. It certainly looks as if good beef would bring 
higher prices within a few years, and we believe .the 
local demand will be better. Many of us feel more 
and more the need of stable manure in our farming, 
and good beef cattle will provide it. We believe that 
a modification of the soiling system such as we have 
described as followed at the New Jersey Experiment 
Station can be successfully used with beef cattle. 
* 
Recent statistics based upon the returns from various 
traveling libraries excited some comment from urban 
critics, who did not seem to realize that, on the whole, 
the farmer reads just what everyone else does. It was 
evidently expected that books of agricultural science 
or technical education would be chiefly called for, 
whereas the rural readers showed greater interest in 
fiction, travel and what we usually term “light liter¬ 
ature.” It should be considered by such critics, how¬ 
ever, that the farmer of reading habits looks first to 
agricultural journals for his technical information, and 
from them to a class of books that he is more likely 
to own than to borrow. A book that is to stay by us— 
HE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
to become a permanent part of our mental equipment— 
should be bought, not borrowed. Where expenditures 
for reading matter must be kept within certain limits 
it is likely to be spent on reference books, and thus we 
find farmers who buy manuals by specialists borrowing 
“the six best sellers” from the traveling library. Our 
own observation shows a decided increase in book buy¬ 
ing on the part of farmers, and we are often interested 
to notice the thought and judgment displayed in their 
selection. The standards of culture in the farm home 
arc certainly much higher than a decade ago, and un¬ 
doubtedly the reading habit has much to do with this 
advancement. We cannot form this habit too early, nor 
can we be too careful in directing it. 
* 
The articles on Alfalfa culture were useful. They 
started new men into experiments and encouraged others 
to go on and try again. We do not agree with the cau¬ 
tious writers who are so afraid of urging farmers to 
experiment because they may go too far. Readers of 
The R. N.-Y. seem to be sensible enough to creep and 
walk before they try to run. T he best thing about it 
is that farmers begin to realize what Alfalfa would 
mean to them. If some one offered to distribute sev¬ 
eral million tons of wheat bran among New York 
farmers free except for the freight charges, the benefit 
would be seen at once. A few acres of Alfalfa on 
every farm where stock is kept would mean much the 
same thing. Yet it doesn’t seem like a large proposi¬ 
tion to the average farmer. By all means, keep at 
Alfalfa! 
* 
We seldom appeal to readers for information in vain. 
Some one usually comes forward with the missing link 
of knowledge taken out of experience. For example, 
no one seemed to know of any farm implement using 
gasoline as motive power. On page 774 we are told 
•of a Canadian machine which if need be moves about 
the field thrashing and bagging the grain and dropping 
the straw. Now here is a call for a power post-hole 
digger: 
Can you advise me if there has been or is any sort of a 
machine for digging post holes by power? It seems some 
sort of a small well drill would answer the purpose. I have 
a contract to build 18 miles of fence. c. E. b. 
Vermont. 
Does anyone know of such a thing? It will of course 
depend much upon where the holes are dug. On the 
stoneless prairie large augers are used, and it seems as 
if power might be applied to them. If they are to be 
drilled we think it doubtful if a machine would drive 
as fast as a man could dig. The largest sized steam 
drills used for boring in rocks might answer. Who 
knows ? 
* 
Efforts have been made before now to obtain patents 
on new creations in horticulture, but it has been held 
that such things are not covered by our patent laws. 
This is regarded by many as unfortunate and unjust, 
because the originator of a new fruit or a new flower 
is just as worthy of protection as the inventor of a 
new broom or a new hoe. On September 18 a patent 
was issued which seems to indicate a possibility of pro¬ 
tecting some horticultural novelties. The patent was 
granted to Victorio Perini, a Brazilian, for “a new and 
useful textile and paper base.” Perini claims that great 
difficulty is experienced in providing suitable material 
for twines and ropes and paper in the tropics. Flax 
and hemp cannot be grown successfully and the cost of 
securing wood for paper pulp is too great. Peripi, who 
claims to be a chemist and botanist, says that several 
years ago he found in a Brazilian forest an isolated 
weed, short and covered with thorns, but which he 
thought might be developed into a useful plant. He ob¬ 
tained seeds, and by careful selection developed a larger 
plant without thorns and with good fiber. The plant 
appears to belong to the Malvaceae or Mallow family, 
and has been named Canhamo Braziliensis Perini. An 
excellent quality of fiber is made from its bark, and the 
wood yields wood pulp. A patent was obtained in 
Brazil and another has been granted in this country on 
the following claims: 
1. As an article of manufacture, commercial fiber obtained 
from the developed plant Canhamo Braziliensis Perini. 
2. As an article of manufacture, commercial fiber obtained 
from the bark of the developed plant Canhamo Braziliensis 
Terini. 
3. As an article of manufacture, reunited fibers from the 
developed plant Canhamo Braziliensis Perini. 
4. Paper-pulp from the core of the developed Canhamo 
Braziliensis Perini. 
It will be seen that the patent is granted not for the 
development or “creation” of the new plant, but on what 
can be made from it. This covers all that one would 
naturally raise the plant for. Still we do not see how 
anyone could be prevented from growing plants or seeds 
for sale. If a man were to produce a new fruit which, 
by reason of some peculiar color or quality gave dried 
or preserved fruit different from others, he might obtain 
a patent on the manufacture, but apparently not on the 
living plants! It seems to us that in granting this pat¬ 
ent the Government has not changed its ruling. Still, 
it may open the door for something that will give an 
originator fair protection. What the introducer wants 
is the right to propagate and sell the same as would 
be granted the inventor of a new machine. The refusal 
to grant such right is based on the argument that living 
plants being propagated by natural processes are not in 
the same class as inert things shaped only by the hand 
of man. In the case of strawberry plants or others 
which are propagated without grafting or budding that 
argument might hold. It will be asked, however, why 
the process of budding a tree in the nursery is not as 
much “hand of man” work as making a basket or coil¬ 
ing a spring. 
* 
It is well that there are so many intelligent and well- 
read farmers in the Thirty-fourth District. The oppo¬ 
sition to Mr. Wadsworth starts from such men, and is 
spread by them. It does not grow through prejudice 
or hatred, but by sound reasoning and the application 
of common sense. Why should we keep on sending this 
man to Congress when he has acted against our inter¬ 
ests and is not necessary to our party? That is a fair 
question and we agree with the following statement: 
The intelligent farmer of the district should not he satis¬ 
fied with his own vote for Porter. The principle at stake 
is of such vast importance to our agricultural and other 
interests that we should try to prevail on every intelligent 
farmer to bring all his influence to hear on his neighbors 
and acquaintances and make them fully understand the situ¬ 
ation. A little missionary work on his part will make 
Wadsworth’s defeat doubly sure. 
The great beauty of such a contest as this is that it 
is unbossed. Everyone must take a hand and help 
spread the news. Do not be satisfied with your own 
vote. Talk to your neighbors. Get out your buggy 
and drive through the country until you have visited 
everyone you know within riding distance. Get the 
arguments clearly in mind and go out like a missionary. 
This is the chance to do such work for agriculture 
which comes to most people once in a lifetime. People 
who live outside the district ask us what they can do 
to help. Vote with the postage stamp! It has been 
claimed that this contest is a National one, and that 
farmers throughout the country are interested in beating 
Mr. Wadsworth. Prove it! If you have any friend or 
relative in Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, Livingston or 
Wyoming counties write them at once. Stick a postage 
stamp on them and ask them to vote right. If you have 
no acquaintance there write to Hon. Peter A. Porter, 
Niagara Falls, N. Y., and tell him how you stand and 
why. The object is to show that this is a National issue. 
Use your tongue to talk or lick a stamp! 
BREVITIES . 
Don’t overdo the milking tube act. 
English farmers are compelled by law to dip their sheep. 
The man who says he is “tickled to death” is usually 
very much alive. 
A hot solution of iye will kill peach borers. Not “hot 
air,” though ihey are often the same! 
Barley of all grains appears to be the best for infants’food 
or for invalids. Barley water has no irritating properties. 
How many times have you put your name on a petition 
which you hardly read, did not understand, ov could not 
endorse ? 
There are 08,000,000 acres of swamp lands in (he coun¬ 
try. Take tlie water out of a few acres of your own swamp 
and see what drainage means. 
Doubt It! What? The statement that white grubs, wire- 
worms or other underground insects can be destroyed by 
using salt or ashes without destroying the crops, too. 
The Massachusetts Asparagus Growers’ Association are 
working to find or produce rust-resisting varieties. They 
already find that some plants are naturally more resistant 
than others. 
Red clover can stand wet feet better than Alfalfa. AVliile 
clover will make a fair growth where the water level is 
barely three feet below the surface Alfalfa should have 
five feet at least before striking water. 
Everyone speaks well of the hen except those who fail 
to get her to make their big stories good. Mr. Bryan says 
that in his travels around the world the hen provided 
the bond which he]d travelers together. The egg was the 
only food that one could be sure of. 
It is said that in the army horses are fed 14 pounds of 
oats and 15 pounds of hay for each 1,000 pounds of live 
weight. For the same weight of mules nine pounds of oats 
are fed. That is about what mule breeders claim in saying 
that their animals are more economical feeders. 
An epidemic of diphtheria in an English village was re¬ 
cently traced to ailing hens, the disease being transmitted 
by playground dust and by a cat that had slept in an in¬ 
fected nest. Until we know more about the various diseases 
classed generally as roup it is well to bear such possibili¬ 
ties in mind. 
Anyone with a genuine love for the strenuous life might 
seek a position as station agent on the Uganda railway, in 
Central Africa. Lions are abundant, and one of these agents 
recently telegraphed to division headquarters: “Please send 
further police protection. Men very brave, but less so when 
roaring begins.” 
The New South Wales Farmer and Settler tells of a New 
Zealand farmer who holds the record as a milker. For a 
considerable time be and his wife milked 72 cows night and 
morning, without keeping any hired help, their family con¬ 
sisting of one small child. We are told that the farmer 
and his wife are healthy and robust—which they need be— 
and fine specimens of humanity. 
