114 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February 0, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S RARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established, I860. 
Entered nt New York as Second Class Matter. 
llERHKKT W. COLLINOWOOI), Kdltor. 
Da. Waltbr Van Fleet, i 
Mrs. k. t. Hoyle, ( Ahhoclatoa. 
John J. Dillon, UukIdchh ManaKer. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEA*. 
To foreign countries In the Universal Uostal Union, |2.04, 
eijual to Ns. fid., or H'/j marks, or 10% 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 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 Tiib Rural Nbw-Yorkkr 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 Y’ork. 
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY i), 1907. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to introduce The R. N.-Y. t'o progressive 
intelligent farmers wlio do not now take it, we send it 
It) weeks for 10 cents for strictly introductory purposes. 
We depend on our old friends to make this known to 
neighbors and friends. 
* 
That is very sensible talk about farmers’ institutes 
by Mr. Cook on page HI. We have felt for some 
time that the usefulness of the hall meeting, except for 
entertainment or social gatherings, is nearly at an end. 
The smaller meetings right out on the farm will make 
less show, hut will prove far more effective in the end. 
This is a good thing for farmers to call for and agitate. 
' * 
In describing the sanitary dairy barn of I)r. E. M. 
Santee we spoke of the cloth ventilators. Instead of 
using the King system of tubes to take the air from 
the lower part of the stable up through the roof, com¬ 
mon muslin is tacked over certain windows—as pottl- 
trymen are now doing with henhouses. This was a new 
idea to us for stables, and we would like to have the 
experiences of those who have tried it. The theory is 
that the cloth permits a change of air from outside 
without draughts and without great loss of heat. 
* 
Li t every fruit grower in the Hudson Valley (and 
all other hills and valleys, too) remember the great 
meeling at Poughkeepsie, February 111 and 22. This 
is the eastern meeting of the New York State Fruit 
(irowers’ Association A fine programme has been pre¬ 
pared and if we all take hold we can make this meeting 
as large as the one at Penn Yan. It will be a great 
thing for fruit growers to turn out l.ooo strong close to 
Albany, where there is considerable pruning and spray¬ 
ing that should he done. Come! 
* 
Tine Legislature of Maine has been asked to provide 
$ 10,000 with which to purchase a farm on which to con¬ 
duct scientific investigations in orcharding. The experi¬ 
ment station, in connection with a committee of well 
known fruit growers, is to have charge of the work. 
This seems to us an excellent thing. Criticism is some¬ 
times justly made 4hat the experiments at our stations 
are not upon a large enough scale to he practical. There 
should be something more than suggestion. The ex¬ 
periments conducted on farms owned by practical farm¬ 
ers are better, but they cannot cover all the details 
which a practical man needs. For the State actually 
to buy a farm and then proceed to develop it through 
a series of years seems to us about the most useful 
form of scientific work we have heard of. 
♦ 
Fruit men in Wayne and nearby counties in "New 
York have organized the "Western New York Evap¬ 
orated Fruit Growers’ Association.” The evaporator 
men feel the need of strong and concerted action in 
order to protect their industry. The new association 
starts off denouncing the present State law which pro¬ 
vides that evaporated apples shall not contain more 
than 27 per cent of water fluids. The test applied is 
drying for four hours at the temperature of boiling 
water. Resolutions favoring the repeal of this law have 
already been endorsed by the Slate Fruit Growers, 
Western N. Y. Horticultural Society and various 
Granges. The evaporator men feel that they have sev¬ 
eral grievances. They do well to combine, for in no 
other way can they state their case and present it for¬ 
cibly. The R. N.-Y. will help. 
A friend who served in the State Legislature tells 
his experience with several bills which were passed 
in the interest of farmers. The hills went to the Gov¬ 
ernor, and the usual trouble began. The Governor 
balked and gave as his excuse the fact that these hills 
called for small appropriations, and there wasn’t money 
enough! Our friend said nothing, but went out and 
roused every farmer he could to telegraph and write 
the Governor. In a few days he was called up on the 
long distance ’phone. There was the Governor him¬ 
self with this message: 
“Of course I am going, to sign those bills!" 
What he needed was a practical demonstration that 
farmers wanted those hills signed—and he got it. “Res¬ 
olutions” count for little in such cases, hut strong per¬ 
sonal letters bring down the game. 
* 
A reader on page 102 gives his experience in trying 
to grind Alfalfa. During the past year we have run 
down a dozen trails which seemed to lead to an Alfalfa 
grinder, hut we have yet to find a manufacturer who 
will guarantee a mill that will turn hay into meal. Can 
anyone furnish such a mill ? There is no longer any 
question about the value of ground Alfalfa. Tests made 
at the Pennsylvania Experiment Station show that 
where wheat bran was worth $20 per ton, Alfalfa meal 
was worth $21.28. This “meal” means Alfalfa hay 
ground about as fine as wheat bran. The test we 
speak of meant feeding an equal weight of the meal in 
place of the bran. Thus it will be seen that we are 
quite right in saving that those Alfalfa growers near 
Syracuse, N. Y., and in other places, can grow $80 
wortli of wheat bran year after year on an acre of 
ground. For some purposes a good mill will add con¬ 
siderable even to this great value—hut where is the mill 
to be found? 
* 
The troubles of a pioneer do not end with clearing 
the land and bringing the desert into civilization. Let a 
farmer in an old settled neighborhood try to introduce 
new crops or methods, and he will find this out. Here 
is a note from a man in a western State which tells 
something of it: 
There is not a silo within 10 miles of my farm, ami 
the farmers all argue against II, one even Hint lie would 
not have it because of the hard work It lakes lo fill. But 
they argued against the 20-foot harrow and the gang 
plow, hut found that In this day of scarce farm help 
(lie gang plow, the wider harrow, and eight foot hinder are 
real necessities. 1 am not discouraged; I will have a silo. 
We advise our friend to hang on and put up his silo. 
Tie will demonstrate its value, and those who now 
argue against it will follow. Then will follow Alfalfa 
culture, lhe reasonable use of fertilizers and other things 
which are a part of modern farming. We know just 
how this man feels in the face of criticism. He can 
have only one convincing argument—works. 
* 
There is no longer any reason for our withholding 
the names of “buyer” and “breeder” in the Jersey cat¬ 
tle controversy, since they have been made public by an¬ 
other paper. Our object in withholding names was to 
protect both parties. We desired first to induce the 
A. J. C. C. to make a thorough investigation, and thus 
place the responsibility. They would he brought into 
the case even if it were carried into court. In a letter 
to us Mr. Dawley complained that he could not hold us 
responsible because we had not used his name. The 
following extract is made from our reply: 
As regards any liability for wlint wo have said wo have 
withhold your name from (ho llrsl In order to protect you, 
and not In any way from any fear of liability. We are 
at any lime ready to acknowledge the connection and 
assume squarely full responsibility for anything we have 
published. 
We asked Mr. Dawley what he wanted us to print 
as his side of the case, hut he has not vet replied to that 
question. As between the two principals in this dis¬ 
pute we take no sides. The charges made by each of 
these men and their friends are about equal in severity 
and alleged crime. At this time we have nothing to do 
with the equity of the trade which involved these cattle, 
or with the character or reputation of either or both 
the parties. We do claim that there is a mix-up in this 
herd of Jerseys. Mr. Rogers, the present owner, is not 
able to identify them, and as the case stands it is not 
possible to register their offspring correctly. We in¬ 
sist that it is the duly of the A. J. C. C. to straighten 
out the tangle, and place the responsibility for error or 
fraud, if there be any, where it belongs. As will be seen 
on the next page all the parties directly involved allege 
they want this done. 
* 
We think the time has come when our experiment 
stations should conduct experiments to show whether 
“floats” or raw phosphate is made more soluble by the 
action of stable manure. As we have often explained 
these "floats” represent the powdered phosphate rock. 
We have been taught for years that it is useless for us 
to put the “floats” on our soil until they have been 
“cut” or dissolved by sulphuric acid. This process 
adds greatly to the cost of phosphoric acid. Is there 
any way of reducing this cost by making the phosphoric 
acid available by the chemical processes which work 
out on our own farms? Men like T’rof. Sanborn in 
New Hampshire and Prof. Hopkins in Illinois have cer¬ 
tainly obtained fair results by using the raw floats. In 
Illinois this success seems to depend upon having a 
naturally rich soil well filled with decaying luimus. 
Our experience indicates that we could use the “floats” 
on turnips or buckwheat and obtain fair growth. Then 
by turning these crops under other crops.would he well 
fed. Most farmers do not want to wait so long for the 
phosphoric acid to become available. Chemical changes 
take place in the manure pile. Are they strong enough 
to affect the “floats” somewhat as the sulphuric acid 
does? This is what the experiment station should learn 
for us. Most of us know that hones or dead animals 
buried in a hot manure pile become softened or broken 
up. When we pack hones in a barrel and keep them 
wet with liquid manure we know that the bones can be 
smashed with hammer or spade. Docs this show that 
the fl oats will he softened in the same way? Of course, 
we know that the bones are different from the rock, 
and more easily broken up, yet the time has come for 
us to learn if it is possible to make the manure pile a 
factory as well as a bank! 
* 
Hardly a day passes without a request from some 
city friend to know where a box of good apples can 
be bought at a fair price. The boxes of apples from the 
Pacific coast cost too much for the average city man. 
The growers in the East do not seem able to realize 
that the flat dwellers in the large cities cannot keep a 
barrel of apples on hand. There is no room for such a 
large package in the flat, and the fruit will not keep in 
these steam-heated places much over two weeks. The 
flat dweller must have a smaller package, or buy a few 
apples at a time—paying ruinous prices for them. The 
result is that the consumption of apples is about half 
of what it should be by such people. The bushel box 
package, filled with good fruit, uniformly packed, and 
sold at $2 or a little more, handled in the right way, 
would give eastern fruit growers a great opportunity. 
I he retail fruit dealers demand such extravagant prices 
that people cannot buy. Others are thinking about this 
as is shown by the following from The Fruitman’s 
Guide: 
One of these line days some syndicate of men with hralns 
and money to back Hie brains* will awake (o (lie possi¬ 
bilities latent In the fruit and vegetable business. They 
will establish a chain of stores, similar very possibly, In 
some respects lo those of the United Elgar Stores; they 
will tlx them up attractively and they will sell good fruits 
and good vegetables at a price that “lives and lets live." 
Then the retail dealer will wonder what struck him and 
will doubtless begin to shriek about the “trusts" and 
their acciirscdness. 
Why should we wait until this “syndicate” steps in to 
fill another place between the fruit grower and fruit 
eater? Why not do it ourselves? The New York- 
State Fruit Growers’ Association is organized for busi¬ 
ness. I here is no part of their business so important 
as the one of better prices. The Association might well 
try the experiment of packing several thousand boxes 
of apples, storing them here, selling at retail! 
BREVITIES. 
Uncle Sam tins 12,575 reindeer In Alaska. 
Tine sunny side of life | s better Hum the seamy side. 
In what way have you made Hie world belter bv Itvlna 
In It? 
It Is not too early to start laying out the garden—on 
paper. 
When does a rose became a rubber plnnl? When It 
I urns your head. 
Which do you call nearer death—fuilli without works 
or work without faith? 
In 1905 $t0,455,887 worth of timber was used In the 
mines In this country. Forestry will pay. 
Hop help the man who grows loo far away from child¬ 
hood. Surely no one else can help him ! 
Now Indiana Is to have a “seed corn" train running 
through Hie Slate with experts aboard lo talk corn. 
No use talking, surface water Is good to bathe the surface 
of the body, but It is well to keep It from the Inside. 
\\ E regard whole oats as a dangerous food for cattle. 
They often gather In the third stomach and make trouble. 
Two things hard to find—a drunkard who Is a large 
enler of apples and discord In the home of a first-class 
bread maker. 
The New York Department of Agriculture reports Hint 
.'U)l animals suffering with tuberculosis were killed last 
year. The compensation was $5,222.20. A little over $17 
per cow seems small pay. 
If the vegetable bins show nothing but potatoes and n 
few elderly turnips or cabbage at this season, the men 
folks may he led to see the advantages of a good garden 
every lime they eat their dinner. 
Last year we gave the story of D. L. Hartman’s success 
at market gardening. Then came the report of n fierce 
rain or cloudburst which seemed lo have ruined the year’s 
crops. Now. Mr. Hartman writes: “Gradually tilings grew 
a new backbone and we have had a very fair season 
after all. Nol so good as last year, but still quite 
satisfactory." 'litis growing “a new backbone” Is what 
keeps the world going. 
