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THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
August 21, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl Street, New York. 
Herbert W. Colli ngwooD, President and Editor, 
John J. Dillon. Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. P. Dillon, Secretary. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet and Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editors. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. 6 d., or 8*2 marks, or M's francs. Remit in money order. 
express order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates 50 cents per agate line—7 words. Discount for time 
orders. References required for advertisers unknown to 
ns; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
"A SQUARE DEAL.” 
Wo believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a 
responsible person. But to make doubly sure wo will make good any 
loss to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler 
advertising in oureolumns, and any such swindler will be publicly ex¬ 
posed. We protect suberibers against rogues, but wedo not guarantee 
to adjust trifling differences between subscribers and honest, respon¬ 
sible advertisers. Neither will we be responsible for the debts of 
honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. Notice of the complaint 
must be sent to ns within one month of the time of the transaction, 
and you must have mentioned The Rural New-Yorker when 
writing the advertiser. 
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 
10 weeks for 10 cents for strictly introductory pur¬ 
poses. We depend on our old friends to make this 
known to neighbors and friends. 
* 
We have told how Colorado has appropriated 
$10,000 to enable the experts to find and develop a 
new variety of potato. The cost would amount to 
little if in any way a potato could be found as well 
suited to the climate and soil of Colorado as Green 
Mountain, Carman or Irish Cobbler are to certain 
parts of the country. Minnesota has appropriated 
$2,000 for special experiments in ridding farms of 
quack grass. In some parts of that State this quack 
grass has become a curse, fields and farms having 
been abandoned to it. The experiment station will 
take 50 or 60 acres of this abandoned land and try 
various plans for redeeming it. We speak of these 
things to show the work which the stations are being 
called upon to do. This fight against quack will be 
watched by thousands of farmers. 
* 
AMong the apple clippings sent us last week is the 
following from the “Fruit Grower”: 
Here is a man who is eligible as president of the Apple 
Consumers’ League. Success Magazine tells about him, 
as follows: 
••I notice,” said Mrs. Dewteil to her next-door neighbor, 
Mrs. Doolittle, wife of “Lazy Sam” Doolittle, “that your 
husband doesn't seem to do anything nowadays but lie in 
the hammock and eat apples, lias he come into a for¬ 
tune V” 
“Oh. no, nothing of that kind." explained Mrs. Doolittle. 
“You see, he’s been having some sort of stomach trouble, 
and he consulted two different doctors about it. The first 
one told him to eat a ripe apple every hour, and the other 
told him always to rest an hour after eating.” 
The only trouble is that Sam consulted too many 
doctors. The one who told him to eat apples was 
right—the other was wrong. At present values the 
man who eats 12 good apples a day would be obliged 
to work over time to earn the price. Instead of rest¬ 
ing he should exercise in order to work off his 
surplus energy. 
* 
The poultrymen of Connecticut through their 
association, were able to get a “Fresh Egg” bill 
through the Legislature. This bill compels dealers 
to sell eggs for what they are. A placard must be 
put in every receptacle which contains eggs for sale, 
stating whether the eggs are from cold storage or 
whether they are preserved eggs, as the case may be. 
The object of the bill is to prevent the sale of the 
storage or preserved eggs as “fresh laid.” Great in¬ 
jury and injustice has been done the hen and the 
hen man by palming off stale eggs as “fresh.” The 
Connecticut bill went through the Legislature and 
the cold storage men went at the Governor to compel 
him to veto it. There was some lively cackling from 
the hen men. As a result the Governor refused to 
veto, nor would he sign the bill as it was. Then the 
hen men had a resolution of “recall” passed by the 
House. This brings the bill back, and it will be 
amended to comply with the Governor’s wishes. We 
may judge from this how strong the hen is in the 
Nutmeg State. 
* 
We have received a number of letters and circu¬ 
lars from Mechanicsville, N. Y., regarding “Wer¬ 
ner’s natural fertilizer.” Some remarkable claims are 
made for this material, and our readers should 
know the facts about it. In estimating the value of 
a fertilizing substance we go by the plant food it 
contains. We want to know not only how much 
plant food there is, but also what form it is in. 
This "natural fertilizer” is said to contain four per 
cent of potash, yet only .02 per cent or a little over 
six ounces in a ton is soluble in water—that is, equal 
in value to muriate of potash. Of phosphoric acid 
there are only a few pounds in the ton. The 
analysis indicates that the “natural ferti'izer’’ is 
simply an ordinary rock of glacial origin crushed 
fine. On the basis of its plant food this material is 
not as valuable as ordinary garden soil. The pro¬ 
prietor claims that since the potash is in the form 
of an oxide it will become soluble—aided by the 
“nitrified dew and rain.” There is nothing remarkable 
about the oxide part of it. The various elements in 
ordinary rocks and soils are always present in that 
form. Of course these oxides may become available, 
but several centuries will most likely be needed for 
the task. The soil on your own farm no doubt 
contains as much plant food as this “natural fer¬ 
tilizer.” A far more natural way to raise crops 
would be to stir the soil of your own farm up by 
thorough culture. 
* 
We have received a number of letters like the 
following: 
As I am a grower of the wonderful Wonderberry this 
season I write you to know what I can do with my ber¬ 
ries. I am afraid to make use of them. They are get¬ 
ting ripe, are very prolific hearers, and seem to do well 
in this climate, but if they are nightshade, I don’t care to 
take chances on using them. g. v. 
Pennsylvania. 
Our information is that the Wonderberries may 
safely be eaten by those who like them. Mr. John 
Lewis Childs offers to eat berry, stem or leaf, green 
or ripe, to show that they are wholesome. No doubt 
Mr. Burbank eats them regularly. Our representa¬ 
tive brought us Wonderberries direct from Mr. Child's 
place. They were eaten here by several parties. They 
proved harmless, but none of the tasters cared for 
more than one. They were full of seed, with a 
sickening flavor, and the complaint was that they left 
a disagreeable acrid feeling in mouth and throat. 
It does not seem possible to us that anyone who 
could obtain our common fruits would ever take 
a second mouthful of Wonderberry. Dr. Carl L. 
Alsberg of the United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture obtained Wonderberries from Texas. An 
extract was made from them, and this extract was 
fed to a rabbit without any ill effect. Dr. Alsberg 
makes this report: 
I may report that in this particular instance the ber¬ 
ries are harmless. I beg, however, to draw attention to 
the fact that members of the Solanum group are exceed¬ 
ingly variable plants. It is conceivable that under one set 
of conditions they may be edible and under another quite 
toxic. That this is true of the potato has long since 
been proved. It is a well-known fact that moldy or old 
potatoes are capable of producing serious poisoning. The 
poisonous glucosidal alkaloid, solanin. was discovered in 
Solanum nigrum, which is exceedingly closely related to 
the Wonderberry. In Europe Solanum nigrum is uni¬ 
versally regarded as exceedingly dangerous. This being so. 
it would seem advisable to urge caution in the cultivation 
of the Wonderberry in each new locality. The possibility 
that under a new set of conditions it may be very poison¬ 
ous always exists. 
Our own opinion is that after this season such 
caution will not be needed with regard to planting 
Wonderberries. While Mr. Childs and Mr. Burbank 
will no doubt continue to grow the berries for their 
own eating, we doubt if anyone else will continue 
to do so, certainly not in localities where our 
ordinary garden fruits thrive. Thus far we have 
paid less attention to the quality of the berry, for 
“the verdict of the people” will settle that. Mr. Bur¬ 
bank offered $10,000 to anyone who would prove 
that his berry is a nightshade. We claim to have 
given absolute proof that seeds of the Wonderberry 
bought from John Lewis Childs as such produced 
nightshade plants. We shall continue to pile up the 
proof until Mr. Burbank pays the $10,000 or states 
the proof that will satisfy him. 
* 
Last week we printed the tariff rates on agri¬ 
cultural products, comparing the new bill with the 
old one. If there is anything in the protective tariff 
argument at all the farmers have the worst of the 
trade. If the politicians had really wanted to make 
a tariff that would help farmers, as certain manufac¬ 
turers were helped, they would have doubled the duty 
on potatoes. We all remember how last Winter po¬ 
tatoes were rushed to this country from Europe, and 
how these imports cut down the price our farmers 
received without reducing the ‘.consumers’ prices. 
Here was about the only chance the tariff men had 
to prove their protective argument with a farm pro¬ 
duct, but they failed to make good. The thousands 
of disgusted people who realize what this new tariff 
means need not lose time in growling at the 
Congressmen who betrayed them. Just as long as the 
present system of selecting party candidates holds 
good Congressmen will work with the machine. The 
only way to influence Congress directly is to make 
Congressmen directly answerable to the people. Once 
nominated there is but one chance in a dozen of de¬ 
feating them. The work therefore must be done in 
making nominations. This tariff bill ought to convert 
thousands who have hesitated to support the system 
of direct primary nominations. They might as well 
petition the man in the moon as to ask favors or de¬ 
mand rights of men who are responsible only to a 
political caucus. 
* 
We get all sorts of questions, some of them true 
puzzles. Not long ago some one asked how to tan 
a snake skin. Never having had any experience, 
our first thought was to send it to some “authority.” 
Who could be supposed to know more about it than 
the managers of “zoological gardens” who write so 
learnedly about animal life? The question was sent 
to these gentlemen, but they politely informed us 
that it was out of their line—they knew nothing 
about it. As a last resort we go to our readers for 
volunteer information, so this question was printed. 
As a first result we have the article on page 744, which 
seems to us well-nigh a model of its kind! Our 
people have never failed us yet in calls of this sort. 
I li:s incident brings forcibly to mind the defect and 
failure of most modern education. Our scientific 
friends could tell us all about the different kinds of 
snakes and their habits, but when it came to the 
practical bread and butter side of the matter they 
knew nothing. Why cannot our teachers see that 
men and women need the useful in their education? 
Angel cake is in no sense a substitute for the bread 
of life. 
* 
Two weeks ago we gave a statement of the differ¬ 
ence in value between the live steer and the meat as 
sold to consumers. We are now asked to state the 
difference between the farmer’s wheat and the baker’s 
bread. Our authority for the figures given comes 
from the following letter: 
The number of bushels of wheat required 1o make a 
barrel of flour varies from lour to 414, with an average, 
probably, of 4% bushels. I think the number of bushels, 
however, will more often go below 4J4 than above: As io 
the number of loaves obtained from a barrel of flour con¬ 
taining 196 pounds there is also a great variation. It 
depends upon the baker, the kind of wheat and the lo- 
< ality. Different linkers will get different amounts of 
bread from a barrel because of different proportions of 
ingredients used in mixing. A baker of long experience 
tells me that, ordinarily, one does well to get 280 loaves 
weighing one pound each from a barrel, so I judge that 
the average number of loaves would be something below 
that, probably 25 o' or 260 loaves. ai. a. carlhton, 
U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. Cerealist in Charge. 
At $1 per bushel a farmer would receive $4.25 
for the wheat required to make a barrel of flour. 
The miller will have the barrel of flour and 59 pounds 
of bran and shorts to sell. The baker who delivers 
bread in our neighborhood charges seven cents a 
loaf. At the estimate of 255 loaves he receives $17.85, 
while a barrel of flour will cost the consumer about 
$8. Thus the wheat grower receives about 50 cents 
on the dollar paid for the flour, and about 23 cents 
of that paid for baker’s bread. 
BREVITIES. 
You can have onr share of Wonderberries. 
At the Ohio Experiment Station some of the wheat 
experiments show a yield of 40 to 50 bushels per acre. 
The Department of Agriculture finds that the best way 
to get rid of wild morning-glory is to pasture hogs 
where it grows. Hogs are fond of the roots. 
“Necroracillosis” is a new sheep disease known also 
as lip and leg disease. Just now it is severe enough in 
Wyoming to call for a quarantine. It Is a germ disease, 
entering the body though scratches or wounds. Remedy— 
dipping. 
While most lands along the Atlantic have been parched 
by the drought, in the Ohio Valley the rains have done 
great damage. It is not usual that such great differences 
should lie found in sections so close together. Of the 
two the dry farmers seem to have suffered most, though 
the flooded ones will hardly admit it. 
In Kansas an experiment in raising cow peas as a 
“catch crop” between crops of wheat was tried. As soon 
as - the wheat was off the stubble was worked up and cow 
peas seeded. They were turned under for the next wheat 
crop. This plan increased the wheat crop 4 1/3 bushels 
on an average of five years. Where no cow peas were 
used the wheat yield steadily ran down. 
Last week the Hope Farm man mentioned a young 
couple who would like to try a farm partnership. Be¬ 
fore the entire edition was distributed letters began to 
come about this. Nearly 50 have been received already. 
These letters cover a wide range of territory and open 
up many a pathetic farm story. It is evident that ihere 
are many people living on good farms who are discouraged 
over the help situation. Such people do not want to leave 
their old homes, yet they lack strength to do the work, 
and cannot find reliable help. 
At the same time there are evidently, strong young 
men and women who want to go, or at least think they 
want to go, to the country. It seems like an ideal plan 
for the elderly land owner to form a partnership with 
the younger home seeker. The chances are, however, that 
the combination will mean a larger problem than either 
side realizes. 
