948 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 22. 
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. Collinowood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, ( 
Mrs. e. t. Boyle, {-Associates. 
JOHN J. Dillon, Business Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, #2.04, 
equal to 8s. Od., or 8*4 marks, or 10*4 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 he sent to us within one 
month of the time of the transaction, and vou 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 he made in money order, express order, 
personal check or bank draft. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York. 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 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. 
* 
For the past two weeks the Hope Farm man has been 
in the West, going as far as Omaha, and very largely in 
the sections where the Ben Davis apple rules. The 
home of a public character will reveal either the strong¬ 
est or the weakest point, and we may expect some vig¬ 
orous comments as the result of this visit. Absence 
and a failure to make mail connections cause another 
break in the series of articles on “A Pound of Butter.” 
* 
We are asked if that amendment to the Minnesota 
constitution was carried. As you will remember, this 
amendment gave farmers the right to sell their own 
products in towns and cities without paying a li¬ 
cense. This special amendment was necessary because 
Minnesota had an old law prohibiting class privileges. 
'I he total vote on the question has not yet been re¬ 
ported, but as far as heard from it is overwhelmingly 
in favor of the amendment. Farmers will get their 
rights when they fight for them in earnest. 
* 
There were, many commendable features about the 
meeting of the Missouri Horticultural Society at Boon- 
ville. The programme was excellent, and they have a 
way of pushing things along that helps greatly. The 
townspeople turned out and filled the hall—an excel¬ 
lent musical programme being arranged. There was a 
great display of fruit—largely of Ben Davis and Gano 
apples, the hotels provided apple on the bill of fare—and 
the members ate them. These western horticultural so¬ 
cieties are doing great work for their States, but they 
do not begin to realize yet the possibilities of their local 
markets. It is the local market that gives the eastern 
grower his chance. 
* 
We judge that the Seedless apple people have been 
disappointed in the eastern sales of their trees. They 
seem to have sold small lots here and there, but no 
large growers seem to have bought the trees as a com¬ 
mercial proposition. They are now trying to work in 
the West, and have adopted a new-old scheme, as we 
learn from a reader in Montana, who writes: 
The agent, when here, to prove the honesty of the com¬ 
pany and the value of the fruit, offered to any 
farmer who had good land and would agree to the terms, 
to furnish the trees for 10 acres of orchard, the farmer to 
have all the income for the first five years, and then if 
the trees and fruit were of value and according to repre¬ 
sentations to deed to the company a one-half interest; 
otherwise it would not cost the farmer a cent for the trees?. 
I told him that offer only proved what the company was: 
10 acres set in apples of known value, like McIntosh, for 
instance would he worth here at least .$8,000 at five years 
of age if well cared for, and the trees to plant the same 
would have only cost $100 instead of the $1,500 the com¬ 
pany wanted for their improved seedless trees, but that in 
the meantime they would be expecting to make large sales 
from the advertisement the contract would give them. 
That was a good answer, and more could have been 
added. Whenever you see any concern driven to adopt 
such methods in order to sell fruit trees you may well 
be on your guard. Whether the trees amounted to any¬ 
thing or not the planting of such an orchard would for 
five years prove a great advertisement for the company, 
for they could point to it as a full endorsement of all 
they claim. The Department of Agriculture, at Wash¬ 
ington, is still hunting down seedless apples, and while 
many so-called “seedless” have been offered not one 
has any true commercial value. And John F. Spencer 
has not yet anszvered that great question ! 
* 
The apple buying speculators did great injury to the 
fruit growing industry in the Central West this year. 
They spread reports of a 200 per cent crop—that is, 
twice as large as in an ordinary season. In truth, the 
actual output of marketable fruit was barely 60 per 
cent, as fungus diseases set in and destroyed a good 
share of the apples. The speculators seemed determined 
to frighten the growers into giving the crop away, so 
they kept up their extravagant reports of the crop and 
refused to buy except at ruinous prices. As a result 
thousands of barrels were lost. Our eastern buyers 
quoted these western reports of over-production and 
used them to depress prices here. In Missouri the offi¬ 
cers of the State Horticultural Society advised growers, 
in the face of what the speculators said, to pack the 
best fruit and hold it. Those who did so were well 
paid, for the outcome showed that instead of being 
twice as large as the average crop this year’s salable 
product was below the average. By their tactics this 
year the speculators succeeded in destroying thousands 
of barrels of fruit, and that is about all. 
* 
. 1 he communication on the opposite page from the 
Executive Committee of the A. J. C. C. does not seem 
to supply sufficient excuse for their refusal to investi¬ 
gate the complaint presented to them. For nearly 
a year they promised a thorough and impartial 
investigation, and delayed action under one pre¬ 
text or another. In the month of May of this 
year, they advised the complainant that his com¬ 
plaint was then in proper form, and that the matter 
would be investigated. Without any further warning 
or communication of any kind, they wrote him in Sep¬ 
tember that they would not investigate. The reasons al¬ 
leged are given in their resolution. Few farmers, we 
think, will consider th.m sufficient to justify their re¬ 
fusal to investigate the charges. The only question sub¬ 
mitted to them for decision was whether or not the 
cows in question were correctly described in the registry 
certificates issued by them. The records were in their 
°lhce, and in the possession of the Breeder, who is one 
of their members. The cows are in the Buyer’s harm 
It ought to be a simple matter to get at the facts. At 
first only these records were questioned. Now the mo¬ 
tives of the committee are under suspicion. Still more 
serious, the integrity of the committee is challenged. 
The Buyer reiterates that the Breeder made the threat, 
to discourage his complaint, that he would know in ad¬ 
vance who would be appointed for such an investigation. 
It seems to us that the committee belittles the serious¬ 
ness of these charges. They forget the interest that the 
farmer who wishes to build up a registered herd has in 
this question. They forget that such farmers pay big 
sums of honest money for these registered pedigrees. 
Are they getting honest or fictitious records? This 
question is no longer a dispute between a buyer and a 
seller. It is a controversy between the American far¬ 
mer and the American Jersey Cattle Club. 
* 
The leaven is working in New Jersey. People begin 
to see what Senator Dryden represents, and what must 
be done to beat him! 
As a reader of The R. N.-Y., I followed very closely 
your campaign of the past few years against Congressman 
Wadsworth, who was seemingly the last man in the world 
who should have stood by the “beef trust,” or in fact any 
other trust, and the outcome shows that “little drops of 
water” can still “make the mighty ocean,” and if the people 
can be aroused, that they are still the masters and not 
Slaves. Following this I notice you have taken up the 
cudgels against Senator Dryden, probably the most conspicu¬ 
ous example of commercialism in that body, and apparently 
(full of the lust of power as they all seem) the only one 
who dares to advertise his title in connection with his 
business. In this fight, you have the help of all Republi¬ 
cans who are patriotic enough to put their State before 
their party, and if the limelight is continually played on 
those Senators and Assemblymen, who do not represent the 
people’s wishes, they will quickly vacate the fence and 
seek the shades of obscurity. e. t. b. 
There are, or ought to be, plenty of papers capable 
of presenting the general reasons why Mr. Dryden 
should not be re-elected. The R. N.-Y., being a farm¬ 
ers’ paper, confines itself to the arguments which would 
naturally have greatest weight with the farmers. We 
are satisfied that the farmers of New Jersey are the 
only class to-day that can save the State from the dis¬ 
grace of six years more of Dryden. We realize, too, 
that for the first time in many years Jersey farmers 
have the chance to make their power felt in a way that 
will win for them lasting respect. During the past few 
years political conditions in New Jersey have been 
greatly changed. It is now a commuter’s State—a fair 
share of the male population leaving the State every 
day to work in the large cities. The floating popula¬ 
tion has thrown extra burdens of taxation upon land- 
owners and by reason of its distribution, forced farmers 
to occupy an inferior place in political power. In New 
Jersey members of the Legislature arc elected not by 
small districts, but by entire counties. A so-called “pri¬ 
mary election” for delegates to the county convention is 
little more than a farce. Thus, where there are towns and 
cities containing a large number of commuters, farmers 
can seldom dominate either a convention or an election. 
'J hey arc generally obliged in such counties to take the 
candidates that are offered them by the towns. The ef¬ 
fect of such a policy, if kept up five or 10 years longer, 
must be apparent to any thoughtful farmer. The out¬ 
come is sure unless the- farmers of New Jersey can 
show that they are still able to dominate the Legislature 
as they did years ago. In our judgment the time has 
come for them to do this in forcing the Republican 
politicians to drop Senator Dryden. We know that some 
of these politicians only need a good excuse to leave 
the man who has brought disaster upon their party. As 
our correspondent says, keep the limelight on them and 
tell them without fear that farmers have a bitter griev¬ 
ance against Mr. Dryden, and there will be no fence for 
them to sit on. We want to put this thing calmly and 
fairly before the farmers of New Jersey. You hold the 
key to the situation because Drvden’s support must 
come from the counties in which you are strong. There 
is more at stake than you think, and just as was the 
case in the Wadsworth campaign events have made it 
possible for you to show your power. Let every Jersey- 
farmer who reads this write at once to his member of 
the Legislature in protest against Dryden, and also go 
out as a missionary among his neighbors. 
* - 
Great prominence is given the recent estimate of the 
Secretary of Agriculture that the value of American 
farm products raised last year reaches the astonishing 
total of $6,794,000,000, or nearly three times the earn¬ 
ings of all the railroads of the United States put to¬ 
gether. all other industries being small in compari¬ 
son with the farmers’ gigantic output. The iron and 
steel business, with its clutch on every pocketbook, 
shows only earnings of $1,200,000,000, and in comparison 
the Standard Oil trust is a mere peanut stand, with its 
little $40,000,000 or so. Tf American farmers should 
combine thev could sweep the capitalists and promoters 
out of the country, but they are never likely to do so 
for purely selfish ends. They want better postal serv¬ 
ice, lower tariffs and transportation for their products 
at something near cost, and they are going to have these 
facilities in. the near future, or know the reason why. 
1 he farmers of the country make such a magnificent 
showing because there are more of them—they are more 
steadily industrious , more economical and better self- 
controlled, as a whole, than any other class of pro¬ 
ducers. ^ This is pre-eminently an agricultural nation. 
Other interests may be vociferous and grasping, but 
they are only sideshows in comparison to our mighty 
basic industry. 
BREVITIES . 
What sort of a mulch for strawberries do planer shav¬ 
ings make? 
'1 he re-hate seems to have proven a disastrous bait for 
those sugar men. 
.Tack Frost demands a surplus of fat in his ration. lie 
prefers it served on living bones. 
Every man should consider himself as a sort of pioneer 
doing work which is to benefit others. 
He who takes the surplus water out of a field in an old 
section is as great a benefactor as he who irrigates a desert. 
Wiiat business have you to sing “Dome Sweet Home" 
until you have provided a full supply of dry fuel under 
shelter? 
“Take off the 10-cent tax and let us sell oleo for what it 
is,” say the oleo makers. But you did not do it before 
the tax! 
“My 38 years’ subscription to The R. N.-Y. is my excuse 
for asking a favor of you” writes a reader in Montana. We 
would like to return 3.8 favors for such a man. 
Better write your good deeds in something more enduring 
than ink. Chemists tell us that all records written in 
ordinary ink now will be completely faded out in 70 years ! 
When you come to think of it, did you ever hear of a 
more ridiculous thing than for a New Jersey farmer to 
sit idly by and let the Legislature elect an oleo man like 
Senator Dryden? 
The French government threatens a heavy duty on cot¬ 
ton-seed and cotton-seed oil, of which there are enormous 
importations from America. This is due to complaints from 
olive oil makers, who say their product is extensively dis¬ 
placed by the cotton-seed oil. If such duties will prevent 
our product from coming back to us as pure French olive 
oil we would regard them with favor. 
A correspondent of the Edinburgh Scotsman urges the 
necessity of sheep and cattle carrying lights when on public 
roads at nigbt to avoid accidents to motorists and cyclists. 
The reform might’ be carried still further by extending it to 
pedestrians, who ought to carry searchlights and Gabriel 
horns; in their present unilluminated condition they are a 
constant annoyance and danger to enthusiastic automobilists. 
The glucose trust (said to be controlled by tlie Standard 
Oil combination) uses poisonous sulphites to cheapen the 
cost of its product. Glucose is used in candy-making, and 
the Pennsylvania Dairy and Food Commission has been 
conducting a war against the dangerous stuff as a result of 
numerous poisoning cases. This method of cheapening pro¬ 
duction seems a particularly villianous form of indirect 
murder. 
