1909. 
-441 
PRODUCTS, PRICES AND TRADE. 
Totatoes. —The market for all grades is 
firm, and foreign and better grades of do¬ 
mestic are held higher. There are now in 
New York both new and second crop from 
Bermuda, Cuban new, Southern late crop, 
and foreign receipts from England, Ireland, 
Scotland, Belgium and Germany. 
Asparagus is lower, excellent quality 
being wholesaled for $5 per dozen bunches 
and retailed at 50 to 75 cents per bunch. 
Receipts at present are only from Cali¬ 
fornia and the Carolinas, green bringing 
top price. 
What Shake? —A lias a farm, not very 
rich soil, which in order to grow a crop 
will require about 1,200 pounds of fer¬ 
tilizer per acre. B wishes to plant corn 
and potatoes on part of this land on shares, 
B to plow and cultivate corn and cut and 
shock it, but not to husk more than his 
portion. If A furnishes land, seed corn 
and potatoes and fertilizer, what proportion 
of the crop should B have for his share? 
New York. w. p.. k. 
A quite common custom in such partner¬ 
ships is for the owner to furnish seed, 
fertilizer, teams and tools and get two- 
thirds of crop, or to “furnish half and get 
half.” This plan might be satisfactory in 
the case mentioned, but we believe it better 
for both parties to get together in ad¬ 
vance and do some very careful figuring on 
the basis of wages and interest on invest¬ 
ment. A knows what the seed and fertilizer 
will cost. B knows the wages he ought 
to have and can tell quite closely what the 
work of teams, extra help, etc., will cost. 
Go over it item by item and see whether 
under average* crop conditions a fair profit 
for both is in sight. This close figuring in 
advance will often head off an unprofitable 
plan and avoid serious misunderstandings. 
Get together, not on the basis of a horse 
trade in which each party is trying to 
“do” the other, but with a disposition to 
get at the truth and be fair. 
An Egg Offer. —A reader sends a cir¬ 
cular letter mailed by an egg concern in 
this city, in which the following offer Is 
made : 
"We understand that you are a shipper 
of eggs, and as we are not getting enough 
to supply our increasing trade, we will buy 
your eggs, thereby saving you the com¬ 
mission, and you will not have to- take any 
chances on market fluctuations. We will 
quote you a price every Monday for the 
entire week and charge no commission.” 
They enclose quotations which they 
promise to pay for a week, regardless of 
fluctuations, and the figures named are the 
top of the market or a trifle above. The 
house making this offer has a good stand¬ 
ing for both capital and credit, and they 
art evidently paying their bills promptly. 
But the offer they make closely resembles 
the bait handed out by people who are 
willing to promise anything to get ship¬ 
ments, and then dock the shipper for 
breakage, small or spoiled eggs, etc., more 
than enough to square themselves. These 
people might not be guilty of such dishon.- 
esty. in fact it is hard to see how they 
could afford to. But how can a concern 
dealing in a staple article like eggs make 
a standing offer better than a dozen other 
concerns of the same size or larger, and in 
the same market? Such offers as this have 
been made by a number of egg dealers in 
New York and other cities ever since Jan¬ 
uary. although there- have been sudden and 
wide fluctuations in price, in one week a 
drop of 10 cents per dozen, and it is evi¬ 
dent that many shippers have been disap¬ 
pointed, but with the elaborate system of 
discounting price because of breakage, ir¬ 
regular size or quality, etc., what 
redress has a shipper? Eggs do get broken 
and show defects of quality, and not being 
on the ground he has no evidence to dis¬ 
pute the dealer’s words. 
Horseradish. —' 14 Some time ago you had 
a statement pertaining to the sale of 
horseradish by a market gardener. Can you 
tell me the practical way to clean it and 
also where a large hand-power grater can 
he bought? What are the secrets of the 
business?” j. n. 
New York. 
To sell well horseradish roots should 
have all discolored spots scraped off be¬ 
fore grating, so that the finished product 
shall be as nearly white as possible. The 
main “secret” about the business is to 
have the “radish” as nearly freshly grated 
as possible when offered for sale as it 
soon becomes dark and discolored. If it 
were not for this a large quantity could 
he prepared and packed away the same 
as other pickles. One successful way is 
to put the grated product in bottles that 
can be sold for 10 or 15 cents, say about 
a half pint, and moistened with vinegar. 
If -possible, get up a trade that can be 
supplied once a week, so that the horse¬ 
radish will always be fresh. No way of 
preventing this discoloration has been dis¬ 
covered, but keeping the bottles tightly 
forked and in a dark cool place will help. 
All large hardware dealers keep horse¬ 
radish machines, or they may be had from 
(he Chicago department stores. As stated 
before, see that the roots, hands and all 
utensils are clean before grating so that 
t l.e product will be white. w. w. h. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Skunk Farming and Goats. 
Some years ago we printed an article on 
skunk farming. It was true at the time of 
writing, but shortly after the skunks died, 
and the skunk farmer was voted a nuis¬ 
ance. Since that article was printed we 
have probably received 500 letters from peo¬ 
ple who want to know how much money 
there is in skunks. There is no money in 
skunk farming. We have a standing re¬ 
quest for information about any skunk 
breeding enterprise that paid. In every 
case we have investigated the skunks died. 
We thought at one time this story held 
the record for staying qualities, but the 
importation of goats by the Department of 
Agriculture seems to match it. Some years 
ago the newspapers reported that a flock 
of goats from Malta had been brought to 
this country for experiment. They were to 
be located at the experiment stations in 
Connecticut and Maryland and bred with a 
view to experimenting with goat dairying. 
Since that announcement people all over 
the country have been asking about these 
goats. It seems that the goats were taken 
with fever and never passed through quar¬ 
antine. Not one of them reached Connecti¬ 
cut, yet many people apparently think there 
are great herds of them on the New Eng¬ 
land hills. The truth is the experiment 
never started. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and 
“r. square deal." See guarantee page 16. 
United States Rubber Go. 
43 Broadway, 
New York. 
April 1st. 1909. 
The Board of Directors of the United States 
Rubber Company has this day declared from 
its net profits a quarterly dividend of Two Per 
Cent, on the First Preferred Stock (including 
all outstanding old “Preferred" Stock), and a 
quarterly dividend of One and One-half Per 
( ent on the Second Preferred Stock of this 
Company, to Stockholders of record at 3 P. M. 
on Thursday April lath, 1909, payable, without 
closing of Transfer Books. April 30th, 1909. 
JOHN J. WATSON, Jr., Treasurer. 
P 4 
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The Verdict of 
Millions of Farmers 
Y OU might not accept one neighbor’s 
verdict as to the worth of a har¬ 
vesting machine. You might feel 
some doubt as to the correctness of the 
opinion of three or four farmers. 
If half a dozen farmers—neighbors 
whom you know—said this or that ma¬ 
chine was the best machine—that it did 
the work right—that it saved money and 
labor and gave them all their crop—you 
would be likely to believe them. 
There can be no reason to question 
the verdict of millions of farmers—prac¬ 
tical men like yourself—millions of farm¬ 
ers all over America—all over the world, 
wherever grain or grass are grown— 
who have given the real test to harvest¬ 
ing and haying machines, and have de¬ 
clared one line tile best. 
THE INTERNATIONAL LINE 
Champion McCormick Osborne 
Deering Milwaukee Plano 
The importance of this verdict is ap¬ 
parent when we stop to consider that 
over 200 kinds of harvesters—200 differ¬ 
ent makes—with different names—have 
been placed on the market during the last 
half century—that of these 200 not more 
than ten remain in any favor—and that 
of these few, the si?? tried and true 
makes are far and away, almost im¬ 
measurably, in the lead in the number 
of machines being used. 
Could there be greater proof? 
Could it be possible that through half 
a century of testing, of actual work in 
the fields everywhere and under all kinds 
of conditions—millions of farmers could 
be wrong in their verdict? 
These millions of men had no preju¬ 
dices. They had only one purpose. 
They had crops to be harvested—they 
demanded machines that would harvest 
all the crop—with least loss of time— 
least delay through accidents—least 
strain on their own strength and their 
horses—machines that would last and 
do the very best work season after sea¬ 
son, year in and year out. 
It was through no favor—no prejudice 
—that these millions of men came to 
know that there were six machines which 
fulfilled their demands: Champion, 
McCormick, Deering, Osborne, Milwau¬ 
kee and Plano. 
Now, since this is the verdict of the 
vast majority of farmers, is there any 
reason why you should experiment? 
Any reason why you should sacrifice 
part of your crop, part of your time, 
part of your strength—all of which is 
money—trying to find another machine 
as good as these? 
It is the time NOW to get ready for 
INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY OF AMERICA, CHICAGO, U. S. A, 
(Incorporated) 
this year’s harvest. If it seems too 
early just call to your mind all the work 
that is to be done before harvest. Very 
soon that work will be keeping you too 
busy to allow time for other things. 
So get ready for the harvest now. 
Don’t wait until the last minute—select 
your new machines now. Have them on 
the farm ready for work when the grain 
and grass are ripe—select machines you 
can depend on—machines the farmers 
of the world have found to be right— 
right in design—right in material—right 
in workmanship. 
You can’t afford to experiment—You 
can’t afford to take any unnecessary risk 
—You can’t afford to assume any un¬ 
necessary responsibility. Why not profit 
by the experience of others who reap 
all their harvests and all the profits with 
one of the six leading lines of machines? 
When you go into your harvest field 
you want to cut your grain without any 
interruption or unnecessary delays, for 
when your wheat is ripe, any time that 
is lost means the loss of money—fre¬ 
quently the loss of a large portion of 
the crop. 
If you have one of the six leading ma¬ 
chines, you will have no occasion to 
worry. Even if the horses should be¬ 
come frightened and run away with the 
machine and break it, you could still 
save your crop, because the extra parts 
that would be needed to repair the ma¬ 
chine can be secured from a nearby 
dealer, who always carries a full stock 
of repair parts. 
Then, too, when you buy one of 
these machines you buy one in which 
the materials are right; the workman¬ 
ship is right; the principle of construc¬ 
tion is right; and each machine before 
being shipped out is tested and retested 
under far more trying conditions than 
will ever be encountered in the harvest 
field. 
In view of the foregoing, we suggest 
that you make the right start by pur¬ 
chasing the right machine. 
Then you will be ready for a quick 
harvest, an easy harvest, a full-value 
harvest. 
Write for a catalogue of whichever of 
our six dependable,durable machines you 
want. And remember—this is important 
—that if accidents should by chance occur 
you can always get the needed repairs 
near at hand, without delay—repairs 
that fit. 
International agents sell Champion, 
Deering, McCormick, Milwaukee, Os¬ 
borne, Plano and International binder 
twine, made from high-grade pure sisal 
and manila fibres—the best raw materi¬ 
als—made for best service. 
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