1907. 
839 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
v 
"YELLOW" LITERATURE ON AGRICULTURE 
The Opinion of a Connecticut Man. 
I wish to call attention to a book entitled “The New 
Agriculture,” by T. Byard Collins, published by M'unn 
& Company, New York, some time ago. The volume 
is another addition to the rapidly growing yellow jour¬ 
nal “literature” of agriculture. In speaking of “new 
creations” in plant breeding, he says: “They stimulate 
the imagination until man dreams of the future as if 
he were intoxicated with the fumes of opium.” We 
certainly are justified after a perusal of its pages in 
feeling that some such stimulus must have caused its 
writing. 
It is to be regretted that such flamboyant statements 
as this book contains are foisted upon an 
unsuspecting public. If the scientific maga¬ 
zine published by the same publishers were 
edited with like inability, it would never 
have attained the justly prominent place it 
holds. It seems, however, that when a man 
of this type wishes to write a book on 
scientific (?) agriculture, he thinks that 
a vivid (or should I say lurid ?) imag¬ 
ination is his chief necessary asset. Chem¬ 
istry, botany and physics are juggled in a 
most awe-inspiring way. It is certainly a 
pity that a man with evidently no scientific 
training, and who is not on speaking terms 
with practical agriculture, should possibly 
have it in his power to persuade men who 
are tired of a “strenuous” city life to take 
up agricultural pursuits for which they are 
liot educationally fitted, by brilliant but 
untruthful pictures of the profits to be de¬ 
rived from the soil. The book is packed 
with facts, and if it were relieved of most 
of its adjectives, and the large amount of 
chaff carefully winnowed, it would un¬ 
doubtedly be productive of good in adver¬ 
tising the advance in agricultural methods. 
But right here is the point: If the author 
is unwilling or unfit to select from pub¬ 
lished work or interviews that which is fact 
and that which is fiction can the average 
reader be expected to do so? We have 
laws to protect us from adulterated foods 
and fertilizers, but what is our safeguard 
against adulterated agricultural writings? 
Men who are investigating problems in re¬ 
lation to agricultural science are often 
called upon to publish tentative conclusions 
in technical journals, in order that criti¬ 
cism may be obtained and the final truth 
brought nearer; but broadcast distribution 
to the non-technical public of exaggerated 
accounts of such work only serves to bring 
their efforts into ridicule. 
What protection from making a possibly 
losing investment does the city man with 
a longing for the farm have when he 
reads: “A competent business man or a 
wideawake professional man may, by no 
fault of his own, be starved out of a given 
locality, but probably no one ever heard 
of an intelligent, energetic and frugal 
farmer who failed to make a comfortable 
living.” (p. 40). Witness also this piece 
of news: “The pests of his plants and the 
diseases of his animals which were once 
the terror of the farmer are now so subject 
to control and cure as to give him little 
more than passing concern.” (p. 27). 
Again, we read: “If there is not enough 
nitrogen in your soil, you may sow it 
broadcast with bacteria at four cents an 
acre, and these microscopic organisms will 
extract the needed element from the air 
and feed it to your plants.” (p. 28). 
It cannot be said that such statements 
are actual untruths, but they belong to a 
class which should be qualified, limited and 
explained; and, as they stand, are mislead- 
graph we read: “These wonderful works in the plant 
world are fraught with a large meaning. * * * They 
mean the discrediting and rejection-of a great body of 
hoary doctrine. They mean that Mendel is an au¬ 
thority no longer, and that Hubrecht and De Vries 
must reconstruct their theories. They are profoundly 
affecting philosophy, and are battering at the very 
foundations of chemistry, d hey mean that heredity is 
only the sum of all past environments, and that ac¬ 
quired characters may not only be transmitted, but that 
they are the only characteristics which are transmitted.” 
(p. 218). We can only wonder at the “cheek” of the 
author. What a great man he will be when his theo¬ 
ries are published. In the meantime we recommend 
that lie read Dc Vries’ new book, in which he uses the 
IT ALE’S ORCHARD LAND AFTER ONCE BURNING. Fig. 416. 
ing exaggerations. We cannot even be this 
charitable to the following: “The com¬ 
posite elements of a plant are carbon, hy¬ 
drogen, oxygen and nitrogen, and, in 
smaller measure, potassium, lime, magnesium and phos¬ 
phoric acid. These last elements are usually abund¬ 
antly present in almost all soils. If they seem to be 
lacking, it is not that they are really so, but that they 
are locked in combinations which make them unavail¬ 
able. By methods and systems of plowing and plant¬ 
ing these elements may be unlocked and brought out 
into useful form, so that no soil need be permanently 
poor for the lack of them.” (p. 106). It seems scarcely 
necessary to make any comment on a statement as re¬ 
markable as this. 
In the chapter on “New Creations” we have a new 
edition of the typical hyperboles that have been going 
their rounds on the same subject. In the last para- 
RHODODENDRON PUNCTATUM. FLOWERS NATURAL SIZE 
See Ruralisms, Page 842. 
work of these same plant breeders as additional data 
for his theory. There is no doubt that this brand of 
the “nature faker” is at present popular. However, it 
does seem odd that some of these publishers of agri¬ 
cultural nature books who have reputed conservatism 
along other scientific lines cannot get hold of conser¬ 
vative “literary advisers” in subjects related to agri¬ 
culture. After reading the book, we may feel in the 
mood to take deeply to heart at least one of its sen¬ 
tences : “Long live .King Humbug! He still feeds fools 
on flapdoodle, and many of them have large and flour¬ 
ishing families who will perpetuate the breed to the re¬ 
motest generations.” (p. 259). e. m. east, ph. d. 
Conn. Exp. Station. 
PLUMS IN THE HENYARD. 
I notice your remark under “Brevities,” page 756, regard¬ 
ing planting plum trees in lienyard. Can you give me full 
information in regard to suitable ground, culture, spraying, 
if any, at what age they bear, and for how long? f. h. c. p. 
Liens need more or less shade in the long hot days 
of midsummer, and the plum tree seems to be pecu¬ 
liarly adapted to the henyards, as it thrives with the 
excess of nitrogen found there, which would kill a 
peach tree. The hens will care for the culture if there 
are enough hens, and if you have room for it and can 
seed one yard down to clover while the hens are on 
the other yard, then change them, it is much better 
for the hens. The plum foliage is so tender that it 
is better not to spray except once, very thoroughly be¬ 
fore the foliage starts in the Spring. The 
age of bearing depends on the variety, 
some bearing in the nursery rows, and 
where far enough north so that the rot is 
not too bad, we would use the Japan va¬ 
rieties for profit, as they are not much 
troubled with black knot, which is such a 
bad defect to the Domestica varieties or 
European plums. The varieties depend on 
the locality and distance from market, as 
some very choice varieties may be very 
poor shippers. As to the soil, all fruits 
like a fairly light soil, but the plum will 
do well on heavy soil if the trees are 
budded or grafted on plum stock. All the 
Japan varieties are short lived, 10 or 12 
years the average. We have found the 
German Prunes to be profitable in the hen- 
yards, but they are slow growers and slow 
in coming into bearing, but our trees seem 
to be perfectly healthy at 12 years old. 
_FLOYD Q. WHITE. 
WATER PRESSURE AS A SPRAY 
POWER. 
Compressed air and gas have been used 
for some years as powers for spraying. 
Gas is expensive, and when compressed air 
is used, the air compressor with engine at 
charging station give high initial cost and 
some complications. Still these types of 
sprayers have been making headway for 
steep orchards where gasoline rigs could 
hardly go, and where the acreage warrant¬ 
ed the use of several field rigs which were 
charged at one compressor. Where high 
water pressure is available, I know the 
charging of spray rigs working as above 
may be simplified, for with an airtight pres¬ 
sure tank connected with the water system, 
it is only necessary to turn in the water 
to have the air compressed to the water 
pressure figure. An air pipe leading from 
the highest point of the* tank will convey 
the compressed air to the spray rig, either 
to portion of the iron spray tank or to a 
separate tank, as the case may be. In the 
case of single tank sprayers the spray tank 
would be filled half full or less of spray 
material, and the remaining space with 
air at a pressure of 150 pounds or more, 
which will expel the spray at a sufficient 
spray pressure if modern nozzles arc used. 
The charging tank should be large, for it 
must be emptied as soon as it fills com¬ 
pletely with water, and to gain strength it 
would be well to use several tanks of less 
size. Separate tanks on the field rig also 
give the advantage of greater strength,and 
the pressure may be used at a more uni¬ 
form rate if desired. Where the water 
pressure is a little low it may be supple¬ 
mented by the use of a force pump or a gas 
tu be. p. l. HUESTED. 
THE SHAKE-UP IN BUSINESS. 
After a journey extending 4,000 miles 
with notebook and camera, it looks as if 
. Fig. 417. this country was able to resist a panic. 
Surely, there is bread enough and to spare 
in this splendid land of ours; work enough 
for each person who is willing to work fairly. The mil¬ 
lions of men who go to make up the controlling forces 
of business and everyday work are true and honest to 
the last penny. Our people are a provident saving peo¬ 
ple, whose means are and have been piled up in great 
aggregate sums in various insurance and other fidicuary 
institutions, because of the general respect and con¬ 
fidence that integrity was the rule and not the exception 
aniong men of great natural ability, and who force of 
circumstances or Providence had called to be managers 
and directors of financial affairs. The accepted stand¬ 
ard in the homes of this nation is that the measure of 
men shall be that of the Ten Commandments, and if we 
are having a shake-up it is only getting down to a 
true foundation. benjaman hammond, 
