i38 
February 16 , 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
T11E 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. Colling wood, Editor. 
UK. WALTER VAN Kl.HET, | 
Mrs. k. 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. (id., or 8!4 marks, or 10'/ a 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. YVe 
protect subscribers against ••ogues, 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 Tiie 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, FEBRUARY 16, 1907. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to introduce The R. N.-Y. t'o 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. 
You must be there! Where ? At the meeting of the 
State Fruit Growers at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Feb¬ 
ruary 21-22. Washington’s birthday is appropriate for 
a fruit meeting. Washington cut down a fruit tree. 
It is all the more necessary to plant others. The 
programme for this meeting is an excellent one. 1 he 
best part of it will be the informal talks between 
friends—new and old. You must be there. Help 
make this meeting the largest ever held in the Hudson 
Valley. 
, * 
Among the questions we would like to submit to 
farmers is the following from Kentucky: 
I would like to have the experience of farmers with a gang 
plow on small farms, say from 10 to *20 acres of plow land 
per year. 
There are many people incapable of doing effective 
work with a walking plow. If they could ride and 
turn over 10 or more acres each year they could 
handle their farms to much better advantage. Can 
they plow small fields in this w r ay? Will it pay? None 
but practical farmers can answer. 
* 
Let every apple grower remember that German tariff 
on apples. We are likely to lose our export trade in 
fruit to Germany unless we can make our influence 
felt at Washington. The Germans threaten to in¬ 
crease this tariff from 50 cents to $1.65 per barrel un¬ 
less this country will make some tariff concessions. 
We cannot afford to _ lose this export trade, but it 
will be lost if apple growers do not exert themselves. 
You, as a fruit grower, should write to your Congress¬ 
man at once and ask him to help us obtain that lowei 
German tariff. Get after him at once. 
* 
It is a failing of most of us to put things off. Some¬ 
how a man likes to keep his money as long as he can 
even when he knows it would be good business to 
spend it early. There is too much delay in ordering 
seeds, fertilizers, spraying materials or tools. We 
ought to know now about what we shall want, and wc 
cannot gain anything by waiting. It is not likely that 
prices will be lower. If we delay we shall get into 
the rush, perhaps miss the chance to buy what we 
want, and risk a long and tedious wait. Don’t delay 
ordering too long. Do it now! 
* 
Is there danger that fruit covered with San Jose 
scale will help spread the insect? We often see such 
fruit in the market, and we know that some people are 
afraid to buy it. Of course there is no danger in eat¬ 
ing such fruit, and we are not able to learn of a case 
where the insect has been spread in this way. Prof. 
Slingerland gives a fair statement of the facts on page 
123. In Oregon the law authorizes inspectors to seize 
and destroy market fruit carrying the scale. Our east¬ 
ern entomologists do not seem to think this law is 
necessary, yet it may be useful if it compel growers 
to be more careful about spraying. A cutting, to be 
used for grafting, is very different. The scale might 
live upon this as long as there was any life in it and 
all such cuttings should be fumigated or dipped. 
The corn display at the Iowa Board of Agriculture 
meeting was both an eye-opener and a mouth closer. 
It gave one an idea of the immense possibilities in corn 
improvement and taught silence about unimproved varie¬ 
ties. As we have said, there are many excellent flint 
varieties in New England which ought to be preserved 
and improved. The value of silage is so great in that 
section that some of fhese flints with small stalks 
are going out of date. 1 hey ought to be kept in culti¬ 
vation, and we take pleasure in announcing a series of 
articles on corn culture and breeding by Prof. East of 
the Connecticut Station. The grain bill of New Eng¬ 
land is enormous. Growing the best of the flint’ varieties 
on some of these old pastures will help decrease the bill. 
* 
That "Western New York Evaporated Fruit Grow¬ 
ers’ Association,” noted last week, means business. The 
members believe that nothing but united action can ever 
bring them added power and influence. As individuals 
they find their legitimate rights denied. The present 
law putting the limit of moisture in dried fruit at 27 
per cent has given an advantage to the dealers. The 
constitution of the new society is framed so as to pre¬ 
vent “dealers in dried fruit” from becoming members. 
It is claimed that the present law was framed and ob¬ 
tained by “dealers” and that it has been used as a means 
of venting personal spite and also to depress market 
prices. Growers are generally in favor of changing 
the per cent of moisture to 24 or 25, thus giving drier 
goods and preventing among other things adulteration 
with water after the fruit leaves their hands. These 
men know what they want and why they want it, and 
they go at their work in the only way by which men 
can hope to succeed. 
* 
A READER of The Breeders’ Gazette writes that paper 
that farmers want to write to their Congressmen. They 
want one or two forms of letters that they can copy. 
The Gazette gives this very sensible reply: 
This is exactly what is not wanted. When letters couched 
in set terms are received by Congressmen they take them 
as evidence of “manufactured sentiment.” So much of this 
lias been done that many Congressmen regard such requests 
lightly. But let a Senator or Representative get a letter 
written in plain farm fashion, direct and forcible, just 
as the farmer would talk it to him, then he begins to think. 
That is just the point exactly. Congressmen know 
when a letter is genuine. The so-called “resolution” 
or petition has little influence with a public man. for 
he generally reasons that those who sign it are willing 
to divide no the responsibility. When a man comes 
right at him alone, makes a fair statement and signs 
his name to it, he recognizes the force of it at once. 
No man can express your sentiments in a letter as well 
as you can do it yourself. It is all well enough to “re¬ 
solve” and sign petitions, but the personal letter over 
your own signature is what does the business. 
* 
On Monday, February 4, Senator John F. Dryden re¬ 
tired from the contest.he was making for re-election. 
There was nothing else left for Mr. Dryden to do ex¬ 
cept to adopt the obstinate attitude of a man butting his 
head against a stone wall. Last December he would 
have been elected—with some grumbling, it is true—yet 
at that time there was no single force quite strong enough 
to influence the Legislature against him. That fore*, 
was furnished by farmers. It was a new thing for 
New Jersey farmers to take a hand in a matter of this 
sort. When we first approached Gov. Stokes and other 
leading politicians they expressed surprise that farmers 
had any special argument against Mr. Dryden. They 
did not know what the oleo bill was. and did not seem 
to believe farmers would ever make a fight. They 
found out. Several members of the Legislature re¬ 
ceived about the worst plastering of postage stamps 
that any public man ever had before. Some of those 
who were pledged to support Mr. Dryden were so fol¬ 
lowed up bv farmers that they sighed with relief when 
the Senator withdrew. We congratulate the farmers of 
New Jersey. They had a harder job than fell to the 
lot of those men who defeated Wadsworth. 1 hey did 
their duty, and hv showing their power in this way they 
have forced new respect for their business. 
* 
Fruit growers in western New York are now thor¬ 
oughly alarmed over the San Jose scale. The insect 
has made its appearance in many orchards. Those of 
us who have watched its course for a number of years 
know what the outcome will he unless the hardest kind 
of a fight is made against it. There are towns in our 
county where eight years ago the yards were full 
of thriftv fruit trees. People grew a good share of 
their fruit in these yards. Now. nearly 90 per cent, 
of these trees are dead or past recovery. It is a mel¬ 
ancholy sight to one who loves a tree. Most of the 
owners could not realize the deadly nature of this 
little insect until the trees began to die. We feel con¬ 
vinced that this scale is likely to change the business 
and character of orcharding. Let it once become well 
established in an orchard of large, high-headed trees, 
and the owner will quickly realize the job that is set 
before him. Tt is almost impossible to cover those 
great trees with the spray material. If, in spraying 
with Bordeaux or poisons, we leave a small part of the 
tree unsprayed only small damage is done. The scale, 
however, spreads so rapidly that a branch or twig left 
untouched may people the whole tree. This makes the 
strongest argument for the low-headed, hush form of 
tree, and we expect to see the larger, high-headed tree 
go out of business as the insect spreads. We must get 
the tree down where we can handle it. 
* 
Questions like the following are often sent us by 
readers: 
1. Why do you always put farmers and their interests 
before those of any other class? 
2. Do you consider that farmers are more entitled to 
Government help than any other class? 
3. You seem to think the farming class better able to 
settle importapt public questions than any others. Why? 
Are they any more intelligent or any more patriotic than 
others? 
These are fair questions. We answer them as best 
we can. 
1. The R. N.-Y. is a farmer’s paper. It is our busi¬ 
ness t’o champion what we consider farm interests as 
best we can. Personally we came from the farm. Our 
home is’ on a farm, which represents a life’s hard sav¬ 
ings. A man’s heart usually goes where his life work 
is invested. Inheritance, business and duty all prompt 
The R. N.-Y. to put the farm’s interests first. 
2. No, but farmers are entitled to just as much help 
as ot'her classes receive. This they have not received 
in the past. Most of our tariff and industrial legislation 
has put a dollar in the way of railroad, manufacturing 
or commercial classes where it put a dime in the way 
of farmers. These other classes have received a direct 
benefit, while most of the benefit to agriculture has been 
indirect. All wealth comes originally from the soil. 
Most of our legislation has helped develop society so 
that th<? proceeds from farm labor have gone largely to 
the town and city. It is no answer t'o say that farmers 
receive special information or education from the Gov¬ 
ernment while others do not. Anything that teaches 
a farmer to produce more food or fibre is a help to all 
the people. As a matter of fact’, the handlers receive 
as much for moving the crop as the farmer does for 
producing it. Farmers need the wisdom and encour¬ 
agement which will lead them to demand equal rights 
in trade, transportation and finance with other classes. 
They want no more! 
3. We do think great public questions are safer for 
settlement in the hands of rural people and smaller land 
owners. Farmers may not be more “intelligent” than 
townspeople, but as a rule they are more thoughtful and 
conservative. The better class of them read good books 
and read them well. I hey form strong opinions, and 
hold to them. They may grow slowly, but the growth 
they make is solid and true. We believe they are the 
most patriotic class in the country, largely because their 
home represent’s not only their life’s savings in money, 
but the center of all that is best in them. Naturally the 
country home means more to its owner than a home in 
the city can. With all their so-called conservatism we 
believe farmers as a class are braver and more inde¬ 
pendent’. and thus safer with public questions than either 
the wealthy class or the town laborers. One of these 
is cowardly over its wealth, the other through fear of 
losing its job.__ 
BREVITIES . 
Time the hotbeds were warmed up. 
The milking machine will change dairy history! 
There were 3,111,157,000 lath cut in this country last 
year. 
The way of the transgressor is soft—when he sticks in 
the mire. 
Be cheerful. If you have no other reason for laughter— 
laugh at yourself. 
A dog Is best known by his fruits when you bury him 
beside a good tree. 
The article on shape of the tree, first page. Why is not 
Mr. Van Buren right in this? 
Will concrete stand fire? Yes, if well made, it will take 
volleys from humans or “the elements.” 
The prime object of a law should be help and justice to, 
the weak—not added strength to the strong. 
The old question about feeding fat into milk is up 
aln ' They did it in the old days of “filled cheese” by 
putting oil or lard into skim-milk. Who has put it in, 
through the mouth? 
Congress has been asked to make laws which will give 
the Secretary of the Interior power to take action to 
suppress the liquor traffic among Indians. Rum does more 
harm to white men than tt does to red ones. 
