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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BVSIN ESS FARMER'S PATER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
I'liMHlied aeetcljr by the Hitral Publishing Company, 400 Pearl Street, New York. 
HERBERT W. Collingwood, President and Editor, 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. 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 
8s. Gd., or 8*a marks, or 10 'a 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 
us; 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 we will make good any 
loss to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler 
advertising in ourcolumns, and any such swindler will bo publicly ox- 
posed. We protect suberibers against rogues, but wo do not guarantee 
to adjust trilling differences between subscribers and honest, respon¬ 
sible advertisers. Neither will wo be responsible for the debts.of 
honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. Notice of the complaint 
must bo sent to us within ono 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. 
* 
Western Canada gives a great market for Ameri¬ 
can fruits. Last year $5,309,840 worth of green fruits 
were imported in spite of the high Canadian tariffs. 
The duty on apples is 40 cents a barrel, and on berries 
and grapes two cents a pound. Except on a strip along 
the Pacific but little fruit is grown in western Canada, 
while there is a great demand for it. In view of this 
the high tariff seems like a heavy and useless tax 
upon the people. Some of the early fruits and vege¬ 
tables sent to the Northwest come from as far away 
as southern Florida. As the country develops and 
large cities grow in the wheat districts the demand 
for our fruit will increase. Naturally the Canadian 
farmers would like to hold this market for them¬ 
selves, but if they cannot supply the fruit they ought 
to consider the consumers and cut out the tariffs. 
* 
Here we have good news from Texas. You re¬ 
member how those truckers and fruit growers asked 
the Texas railroad commissioners to grant them the 
privilege of sending a man along with carload ship¬ 
ments. Mr. J. W. Stubenrauch now tells the story: 
In our fight with tho railroads before our State Rail¬ 
road Commission we have won, and have now the priv¬ 
ilege, if we wish to do so, to go along on same Irain with 
a car of our produce to its destination. We are required 
to pay the fare one way and return free on a regular pas¬ 
senger train. This gives us a chance to learn where a 
good deal of the trouble comes in when we do not get 
better results when shipping stuff away from home. The 
efforts of The R. N.-Y have been of some help to us in 
this matter. J. w. stubenrauch. 
Of course The R. N.-Y. is glad to help. Now the 
thing to do is to follow up this advantage and dem¬ 
onstrate the value of having this man on the train. 
Prove the point for which you contended and you will 
help shippers everywhere. 
* 
The R. N.-Y. claims that it has proved conclusively 
that the Wonderberry is a black nightshade. We 
now rest our case, though we have an abundance of 
additional proof to offer. Mr. Burbank offered $10,000 
to anyone who would prove the connection between 
the plants. Mr. John Lewis Childs states that certain 
seedsmen have confessed to him that they substituted 
seed of garden huckleberry for that of Wonderberry. 
We have called upon both of those gentlemen to 
“make good.” For answer they seem to have engaged 
in a neck-and-neck race into the deepest recesses of 
a most profound silence. Mr. Burbank has told us 
that “the verdict of the people is the one that stands,” 
and he cannot escape it by running away from the 
issue. The economic value of the Wonderberry is 
now being determined by those who are growing it, 
and, as we have so often stated, nothing we can say 
could change the verdict of the public regarding it. 
We have proved that it is a black nightshade, which 
was the essential thing. 
* 
A Texas reader tells of a walk he took in the hot 
sun with the mercury at 115°. “On the road out I 
passed a farm gate bearing the sign ‘Stock water, five 
cents per head.’ Imagine God’s free water being 
peddled out for money!” In the large northern cities 
water is sold regularly. It is bottled at springs in the 
country (or is supposed to be) and sent away by car¬ 
load. Not long ago a friend, while waiting at a rail¬ 
road station in Vermont, saw a shipment of spring 
wdter and one of milk going on the same train. The 
water brought more per gallon than the milk did. In 
some of the denser haunts of civilization it is getting 
so that air, sunshine, water and other things which 
our fathers regarded as “free gifts of God” are being 
monopolized and held at high values. Year after year 
of that division of the dollar which gives the producers 
35 cents and the handlers 65 has filled the town and 
city with money. This is very easy money for the 
second generation, and the problem of spending it 
gives enormous values to popular articles. A few 
producers learn how to grow fruit or other things 
so well that their knowledge and skill serves them 
like a patent on a manufactured article. 
* 
Last week we referred to a committee of the New 
York Legislature which has been in the West “study¬ 
ing” the new primary nomination laws. Some mem¬ 
bers of this committee have already given unfavor¬ 
able reports. The Detroit Free Press, in speaking of 
this, says: 
An opportunity to confer a real public service in pre¬ 
sent inf? informal ion as to the practical value of this new 
principle was afforded the committee. If, however, the 
methods it pursued in Detroit are typical of its methods 
throughout ils tour, the investigation can hardly be looked 
upon as exhaustive. It is to he regretted that the com¬ 
mittee did not approach its task with more of the true 
spirit of fair-minded scientific research. 
From what we read of its deliberations we judge 
that this committee went West with the fixed determi¬ 
nation of proving, if possible, that primary nomina¬ 
tion is a failure, and that Gov. Hughes is all wrong. 
Of course when these politicians found a system 
which actually gives the common voter a chance to 
select candidates, they called it “political disorganiza¬ 
tion and anarchy.” It is good to know beforehand 
what they expect to report. Let us get ready for 
them before the Legislature meets. 
* 
Some of the city papers love to point out the ig¬ 
norance or “stupidity”' of farmers. It often happens 
that at the very time they are claiming superior in¬ 
telligence they are guilty of a stupidity that is almost 
criminal. This is usually the case when they attempt 
to discuss a parcels post. The New York Evening 
Post says there will be a deficit of $20,000,000 in the 
Post Office Department, and that the reason for it is 
“perfectly well known.” 
It. is the extension of the rural free-delivery service. 
Every year Congress votes for the establishment of new 
routes, scarcely one of which comes near paying for itself, 
and the total effect of which is a steady drain of millions 
upon the Treasury. Yet let the Postmaster-General say 
a word against this, or attempt to check the rural free- 
delivery expansion, and he will see what will happen to 
him ! It is one of those political luxuries which cannot be 
cut off even in hard times. 
That statement is stupid because it omits what any¬ 
one ought to know. The rural routes do not pay be¬ 
cause there is not enough letter postage to make them 
pay. With a larger revenue from sales of stamps the 
deficit would be more than wiped out. This larger 
revenue would be sure to come if the people could 
have the privilege of a parcels post as they have in 
England or Europe. With cheaper postal rates coun¬ 
try people would buy thousands or millions of pack¬ 
ages of goods which would be sent by mail. The 
rural route wagons, instead of carrying a peck of 
letters and papers, could carry several bushels of 
packages with no increase of cost to the Government, 
but with a large increase of income from postage. As 
it stands, the Government employs nearly 40,000 men 
and horses to distribute mail in the country and yet 
keeps most of them at about one-quarter of their earn¬ 
ing capacity. That is where the deficit occurs. If we 
pay $5 for a man and horse and his labor returns only 
$2 the thing to do is not find fault with the man, hut 
give him work which will enable him to earn $6. That 
is just what the Government could do in this case. In 
fact it will he hard to name any easier or fairer way 
of raising public revenue than a fair parcels post. 
* 
Many cases of substitution or mistake in filling 
orders for nursery stock have been brought to our 
attention. There seem to be more of them of late 
than before. Orchards of apple or peach are planted 
by skilled growers and cared for properly. In many 
cases five to 10 years of labor and expense go with 
those orchards before fruiting shows the true char¬ 
acter of the varieties. Sometimes, after this labor and 
expense, the fruit grower finds that he has lost all 
these years. Instead of the crop which he had|a right 
to expect, he finds upon his trees some worthless sort, 
or something entirely unsuited to his market or needs. 
This is bad enough, but it feels like “rubbing it in” 
to have the nurseryman point to a contract or cata¬ 
logue in which he has clearly stated that all he will 
do in such a case is to send young trees to replace the 
old ones. These new trees will not be guaranteed any 
more than the old ones, and the grower is expected 
to suffer all the loss of time and expense. We can 
appreciate the feelings of the grower in this matter, 
for we have some 2,000 young trees yet to fruit. We 
are looking to them for future help or support, and 
it will he a sad day if the fruiting should reveal, not 
the standard old varieties we knew would take care 
. September 18, 
of us, but poor and unsuitable kinds. In the face of 
such a calamity it would seem worse than an insult 
for a man to offer more young trees with nothing 
sure about them. If lie told us we could top-work 
the bogus trees we should expect him to come and do 
the job. What is a fair settlement in such cases? Are 
there any instances where agreement has been reached? 
We do not believe in indiscriminate abuse of nursery¬ 
men. Many of them desire to do an honorable busi¬ 
ness. As far as our own trees have thus far fruited 
there have been very few untrue to name—so few 
that we have been surprised, knowing as we do how 
easy it would be to mix buds or trees. There are no 
doubt rascals in the trade who have no reputation to 
lose anyway. We do our best to expose them and 
keep trade away from them. We cannot have much 
sympathy for people who, after repeated warnings, are 
bitten by these horticultural hyenas. When honest and 
reputable nurserymen, through some mistake, mix up 
the trees, we believe they will he reasonable and will¬ 
ing to make a fair settlement. We want to find out 
by weighing the estimates and opinion^ of both sides 
just what such a fair settlement is. 
* 
The statement is often made that when less money 
is spent for liquor more will be spent for fruit and 
other necessities which farmers produce. This seems 
reasonable as we study human nature, and if the 
statements are true the business in prohibition towns 
ought to show it. We have learned not to accept 
any statements in the newspapers as correct until they 
are corroborated. In order to test this matter we 
wrote a number of large fruit dealers in Southern 
cilies located in States which have recently adopted 
prohibition. No effort was made to obtain favorable 
responses one way or the other, and the names of 
firms were selected at random. We arc not acquainted 
with any of them. Every one of the replies shows 
that prohibition of the sale of liquor has resulted in 
larger sales of fruit. It is evident that some of our 
correspondents are opposed to prohibition, yet even 
these admit that the result is as we have stated. Here 
is one typical reply: 
There is no doubt that prohibition in our territory has 
led to an increased consumption of fruit, and we think 
that this increase will be greater as whisky and beer be¬ 
come more thoroughly weeded out. 
Birmingham, Ala. j. j. rogers produce co. 
We also print the following letter, which does not 
need explanation: 
Of course, if a man is spending his money, and he does 
not spend it for clothes or something m drink he is more 
than likely to spend it for some fruit, but the writer has 
always looked at this from a selfish standpoint. We hear 
the same thing from the retail grocers, that their trade 
has increased, and naturally the hurt to one business must 
be the benefit of another. Allow us lo assure you that 
there are quite a number of people in this section who do 
not believe in the stringent laws that are being enforced 
by the majority. We believe in personal liberty, and we 
believe that every man is the architect of his own future, 
and if .he likes fruit he should have the privilege of eat¬ 
ing it, and if he eats so much fruit that it makes him 
sick then somebody ought to stop him; the same would 
be applicable to drink. 
Atlanta, Ga. the American commission company. 
We are not at this time making any argument for 
temperance—but simply hunting for the facts . As for 
"personal liberty,” however, we certainly believe that 
those who want fruit should have the privilege of eat¬ 
ing it. This privilege should extend to the wife and 
children of working men. These are often deprived 
of fruit because the money which should buy it goes 
for drink. We oppose that form of “personal liberty” 
which means impersonal slavery! 
BREVITIES. 
We have great hopes that some form of lime and sul¬ 
phur will prove superior to Bordeaux for fruit diseases. 
The Germans use each year about 36,000,000 Ions of 
potatoes for food, starch and alcohol. Potato flour is 
starch ground to a fine powder. 
There having been some question about Alfalfa mak¬ 
ing seed in New York, a reader in Seneca County sends 
us plants with the seeds fully matured. 
Stock men in parts of the southwest have had trouble 
from cattle eating oak leaves. When these leaves and 
sprouts are eaten in large quantities enough tannic acid 
is taken to injure the stock. Linseed oil taken in time 
is the remedy. 
The “women’s work” problem in Paraguay means more 
industry than pay. The Paraguayan women are very skillful 
with the needle, and do fine laees and handkerchiefs. 
Such a handkerchief requires two months’ labor all day, 
and when done, sells for about $6. 
A Methodist minister sends us the following: “I have 
a little rocky farm in Connecticut near the Massachusetts 
line where I spend about four weeks a year with my wife 
and two children. The It. N.-Y. helps me on the farm, 
and enables me to talk to farmers with some degree of 
intelligence.” 
What becomes of the old black stockings? Nearly 
5,000 tons are sent from this country to Germany each 
year. There they are made into shoddy*, which the Ger¬ 
mans call “Kunstbaumwolle.” The Germans prefer Amer¬ 
ican stockings, which are very little darned or mended. 
When a hole appears the stockings are thrown away. 
