544 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 13, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TUE BUSINESS FARMER'S PARER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Entered at New York as Second Class Matter. 
IIkkbekt W. Colling wood, Editor. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet, I ._. . 
Mrs. K. T. Kovlk, J 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 'fa marks, or 10Vi 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 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, JULY 13, 1907. 
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 
1 ) weeks for 10 cents for strictly introductory purposes. 
0/e depend on our old friends to make this known to 
-ighbors and friends. 
* 
Here is a question from a reader in Ohio which we 
submit for answer: 
Can any of your readers give plan for - satisfactory 
traveling mail box? Distance one-half mile. 
We have printed pictures of one or two contrivances 
for carrying mail boxes short distances on a wire. Who 
can tell of a long distance outfit? 
* 
Hay is precious this year, and every scheme will be 
worked for getting it into the barn quickly. Some of it 
will be put in green to “sweat” the surplus moisture 
out in the hay mow. This brings up the oft debated 
question as to whether it is better to keep the barn 
.shut tight or open to the air. The best argument is in 
favor of a closed barn. In such a barn the moisture 
will rise from the hay and pass away from the top of 
the barn as vapor—which is what we want. When the 
barn is left open the cooler air from outside striking 
t lie rising steam condenses the moisture and leaves it 
as water on the hay. 
* 
We shall keep track of American exports of fruits 
. and nuts, that people may realize how this trade is 
growing. During the 11 months ending May 1 we sent 
abroad $16,970,314 worth of nuts and fruits. During 
II months of (he previous year the amount was $14,- 
, 725,317. The value of apples, green and dried, was 
$7,756,155. England was our best customer, taking 
$6,305,763 worth, while British North America bought 
$3,151,159. During the same 11 months our exports 
of wheat amounted to $56,563,120. We make the 
prophecy that 10 years from now exports of nuts and 
fruits will be worth more than those of wheat. 
* 
There seems no use in talking about the great value 
of cow peas where it is impossible to obtain seed for 
sowing. While the seed crop has increased rapidly, so 
great has been the spread of cow pea culture that prices 
have doubled, and there is never enough to supply the 
demand. There ought to be good profit in parts of 
the South in growing seed cow peas. South of Phila¬ 
delphia cow peas can lie used to great advantage by 
grain growers. The seed may be drilled in after wheat 
harvest and the crop plowed under in time for another 
wheat seeding. We know how hard it is to convince 
the average farmer that there is any great value in 
cow pea vines. Let him once plow a crop under and 
see what follows, and he will be convinced. 
★ 
Not every man lives to find an abundance of riches 
a disadvantage. Some do, however. Here is a case: 
I guess your Now York pure food cranks are going to 
knock out the Jerseys if Redfield & Co. don’t. I got a 
letter from a commission man to whom T sent a tub of 
butter, saying that I must he careful about putting in so 
much color. Guess he never saw any Jersey butter made 
in June before. 
A good Jersey cow represents about the highest notch 
in the ability to take yellow color out of green grass. 
That is her business, and it is hard to think of a greater 
insult than to suggest that there is imitation color in 
her butter. But the strongest combination of “pure 
food cranks” and “Redfield & Co.” cannot knock out 
the Jersey cow. The breeders who are out among the 
people and know what is going on will soon take care 
of ’’Redfield & Co.” 
* 
After a century or more of wasteful despoliation the 
mountain slopes about the headwaters of the sources 
of the Ohio River are so bared of trees and flood- 
retaining herbage that disastrous freshets occur with 
alarming frequency. The direct damage attributed to 
the Spring floods this year is claimed to he over $50,- 
000,000 in the Pittsburgh region alone. To overcome 
these discouraging conditions the gigantic project of re¬ 
planting the !umbercd-out districts with over 5,000,000,000 
young forest trees with after-care, including the sup¬ 
pression of fires, is serjously being considered. It will 
require vast expenditure and years of time to material¬ 
ize this mighty hut necessary scheme, hut the interests 
at stake are so great that there is little doubt hut that 
something of the kind will he attempted. It is probable 
that the burden will he borne by public taxation, hut it 
js a natural suggestion that some of the great fortunes 
of the discredited steel millionaires could he well em¬ 
ployed in a work of such great importance. 
* 
Prof. Henry S. Redfield appears to he one of those 
gentlemen who absorb knowledge slowly. We trust, 
however, that his education will finally he sound and 
sure. We are doing our best to show him what people 
think of this Jersey cow case, and we are prepared to 
keep at it cheerfully until his education is complete. 
Wo are not likely to run short of material. Here is a 
note from a Jersey breeder whose name is familiar to 
thousands of farmers: 
"No one could look over your reproduction of the 
photograph of the cow’s horn and imagine for a moment 
that the cow from whose head it came zvas less than six 
or seven years ‘of age, provided alzvays they knew any¬ 
thing about cozvs’ horns. The stand you have taken in 
this matter has my entire sympathy and cordial endorse¬ 
ment. The stand of the A. J. C. C. is utterly indefensi¬ 
ble, and you are right in touching up the sore spot until 
they come to their senses, or another organisation for 
the purpose of registering Jersey cattle is provided. We 
cannot afford to have any doubts in regard to accuracy 
in this matter.” 
We told you that horn would become a horn of plenty 
—overflowing with trouble for the A. J. C. C. We do 
not know whether Prof. Redfield ever milked a cow or 
not, yet he must know that a cow with five rings on her 
horn must he more than five years old. Yet his com¬ 
mittee fits this eight-year-old horn upon a five-year-old 
cow, and registers her calf as purebred! Everybody 
else can see the rings on that horn, but Prof. Redfield 
seems to skip three of them. Three weeks ago it was 
suggested that the A. J. C. C. might commit suicide. It 
looks as if silence would be a very effective weapon 
for doing it. 
* 
Some of our common weeds contain a large amount 
of plant food. Common purslane and pigweed are richer 
in nitrogen than either clover or Alfalfa. Thus such 
weeds not only interfere with the growth of farm crops 
but also rob the soil. For instance, when weeds arc 
grown and cut with a grain crop they often take more 
pitrogen out of the soil than the grain does. Some 
.farmers think they are safe in growing a crop of weeds, 
cutting them and burning. As the burning drives off 
gll the nitrogen we can see what a wasteful practice 
this is. For some years we have used weeds for mulch¬ 
ing around young trees and the results have been sur¬ 
prising. We have long believed that our common rag¬ 
weed is a potash plant, capable of obtaining large quan¬ 
tities of that element from the soil. When plowed un¬ 
der before the seed head is formed this weed makes an 
excellent green manure. A few sheep to eat up the 
weeds in fence corners and odd places will prove more 
useful than many a hired man. 
* 
It may he that Mary read the poem at the school 
“commencement” and that Billy was “valedictorian” or 
performed some other literary function. You and 
mother sat on a front seat, perhaps not getting it all, 
but very proud of your children. You dream fine 
dreams about the future of the poet and the orator. 
At home plain and honest Kitty cannot write poetry, 
hut she can make the finest of bread, while her pies 
are a joy forever. Jack cannot make a speech, but what 
a furrow he can turn, and how that calf does shine! 
Now, friend, do not make any mistake in ranking your 
children. A good loaf of bread should rank far above 
a poor or even a good poem. A clean field or a well- 
trained colt beats a school hoy’s oration out of sight. 
We would not belittle any honest literary pretension, 
but we put skill with the hand above them. Be proud 
pf M'ary and Billy, but thank God for Kitty ^nd Jack, 
flnd use them fairly. Don’t let the poet and the orator 
.spend the Summer resting on their laurels, hut put them 
right at work. The harness will brighten up their am¬ 
bition if they have any. 
T he Spencer Seedless Apple Co. selected Wisconsin 
and Michigan as good territory in which to work their 
agents. This may he a compliment to the fruit growers 
in these States or otherwise. The Wisconsin Horti¬ 
cultural Society took the matter up, laying particular 
stress upon the question of hardiness and price. An 
apple tree to endure in Wisconsin must be exception¬ 
ally, hardy, and there is no evidence that the Seedless 
will stand the climate. In order to show the folly of 
paying $2 for a tree of Seedless, nurserymen were asked 
to state how many three-year-old trees of standard vari¬ 
eties they would sell for $2.. The replies are summar¬ 
ized as follows: 
None offered less than six trees for two dollars delivered 
and in one case 16 first-class trees were offered f. o. b. at 
shipping 1 point with no guarantee to replace. From these 
quotations It may be seen that for $2, the price of one 
tree of the Spencer Seedless, Coreless and Bloomless apple, 
at least six good treps of standard apples, all adapted to 
the State, may be purchased. When every farm home in 
Wisconsin has an orchard of at least two dozen trees, in¬ 
cluding Wealthy, Duchess, Northwestern Greening, with a 
few cherries and native plums, it will he time enough to 
invest in novelties. 
Just think of a sane man, in the face of that paying 
a two-dollar bill for a .“Seedless” tree. And yet the 
same thing might lie said of hundreds of “novelties” 
for which people pay their hard-earned money. 
* 
What is known as the Eggleston hill, passed by the 
New York Legislature, seems to be very satisfactory to 
New York fruit growers. For some years fruit has 
been shipped into this State from outside, sold here 
and resold or shipped as New York State fruit. New 
York has gained a well-deserved reputation for high- 
class fruit, and the dishonest practice of stealing the 
name and brand has been a profitable one. Both peach 
pud pear growers have suffered, hut the greatest trouble 
has been with apples. The New York apple, when prop¬ 
erly grown, is especially fitted for storage, and it has 
been a great temptation to palm off cheaper and inferior 
fruit as “New York State.” The State cannot afford to 
Jet this practice continue. Fruit growing as a business 
is developing with wonderful rapidity, and is giving in¬ 
creased value to thousands of acres of land. Having 
won a well-deserved reputation for their fruit, and 
given credit to the name of the State, New York growers 
are justified in expecting the State to protect them. 
This, it seems, the Eggleston bill will do. It not only 
prohibits the use of “New York” brand for outside 
fruit, hut the individual grower is also protected. It 
has often happened that men like J. H. Hale, who pack 
Jiigh-class fruit in well-known packages, find these same 
packages refilled with inferior fruit and sent back to 
market! Under the new law the man who uses these 
second-hand packages is compelled to erase the name 
pf the original packer. The law is also strict against 
dishonest packing. The so-called “plugging” or filling 
the middle of the package with inferior fruit is made 
a crime, the punishment beimr $50 to $100 for first and 
$100 to $200 for second offense. Each package will 
constitute a separate offense! Now this law, properly 
enforced, will prove a genuine help to fruit growers. 
The way to have it enforced is to take interest in it 
and follow it up. The New York State Fruit Growers, 
Western New York Horticultural and every other farm 
organization, large and small, should support this bill. 
It is in the interest of honesty and fair dealing, and 
farmers cannot be too forcible in getting on that side of 
their business. 
BREVITIES . 
No man can gain the respect of others until he respects 
himself. 
Smut or rust on the wheat is reported from some points 
in Western New York. 
Now the town of Freewater, Ore., has started the celebra¬ 
tion of a new holiday—Peach Day. 
One of the first things milk inspectors should do is to 
compel consumers to clean the bottle and cans which are 
returned. 
The New York Board of Health claims the right to con¬ 
fiscate milk coming to this city at a temperature above 50 
degrees. Such milk is destroyed. 
Ten men will say, “I had a hard time in youth and there 
is no reason why my boy should have it easier!” Of these 
barely one will have the courage to deny his boy for the 
child's own good. y 
Experiments on swamp or muck soils in Wisconsin show 
just what has been noted elsewhere—that such soil require 
potash and phosphoric acid. With these chemicals and 
fair drainage they become very productive. 
How can you educate a Canadian—by coaxing him or 
driving him? That question was asked at a dairy meeting 
in Ontario. Where one man seeks education 100 must have 
it thrust upon them. It’s all in the art of presenting it! 
We are much pleased with the behavior of our “dehorned” 
peach trees. They were badly injured by scale and we cut 
the tops off close and soaked the stem and stubs with spray 
mixture. A new and vigorous top started which is very sat¬ 
isfactory. 
We judge from reports that Crimson clover is growing 
more popular than ever. Now that farmers understand this 
valuable crop they see its great value. With us it is most 
useful for seeding in the gorn at the last cultivation. We 
use Cow-horn turnips with it. 
