870 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
October 2, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE JiUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established, 1850. 
Published weekly by tbc Rural PubliitliliiR Company, 409 Pearl Street, New York* 
Hehbkbt W. Collivgwood, President and Editor, 
John J. Dii.uin, 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 foroigti countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. (id., or 8*2 marks, or 10*3 francs. Remit in money order, 
express order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at Now York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates 50 conts 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 evory 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 ourcoiuinns, and any such swindler will be publicly ex¬ 
posed. We protect suberibers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust trifling differences between subscribers and honest, respon¬ 
sible advertisers. Neither will we bo 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 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. 
* 
Sorry —but it must be the old, monotonous report 
again—not a word and not a dollar from Luther 
Burbank. It may be that a diet of Wonderberries 
induces silence. In that case the fruit may have a 
value for the multitude of people who realize that 
they talk too much. 
* 
We generally get what we call for when we ask 
questions of readers. Here is one from Massachusetts. 
Would some of the readers of The R. N.-Y. be kind 
enough to tell us what price they get per ton for ice? I 
have a spring-fed pond from which I can cut good ice, 
and thought of trying to find a market for some next Win¬ 
ter, and would like to know what would be a fair price 
to ask per ton f. o. b. 
We find that selling ice to dealers or store keepers 
is getting to be something of a business. Tell us what 
the ice is worth. 
* 
A young man who has been studying at an agricul¬ 
tural college has made this determination about farm¬ 
ing: “I rvill never settle zvhere I cannot grow Alfalfa.” 
This man has been about through various farm sec¬ 
tions, and has seen how Alfalfa feeds the stock, feeds 
the land and more than feeds the family. The grain 
hill and the fertilizer bill are both cut down when the 
farm grows Alfalfa. Farm values increase and farm 
history is changed by this crop. This young man has 
made a great resolution. 
* 
We certainly hope that Prof. Herrick is right in his 
belief that this warfare of “bug against bug” can be 
used to rid us of some insect pests. We have just 
learned of a case at Greeley,. Colo., where potato 
beetles have done great injury. The beetle came orig¬ 
inally from that section, but the natural enemies have 
kept it in check. This year the parasites which usually 
destroy it seem to have struck. They did not work, 
and as a result the Potato beetle became a fearful 
scourge. Next year most likely the old combat of 
‘‘bug against bug” will come up again and keep the 
beetle in check. 
* 
A guarantee or “clean hill of health” from the 
United States Government means something, and it 
ought to. The latest thing of this sort comes from the 
Department of Agriculture regarding a section of 
Vermont. It is free from potato disease, or so nearly 
so that careful farmers can produce clean seed. This 
kind of seed is in great demand, especially for planting 
in the South, where potato blight is very prevalent. 
Strong seed, free from the disease, is needed, and the 
country has been well scoured to find where it can 
be grown. The Department has found such a place 
in Northern Vermont, and, in consequence, seed from 
that section has a superior value. 
* 
Now and then there comes a year when the farmer 
who wants to buy purebred stock can get excep¬ 
tional bargains. This is such a year. The drought 
in many sections has cut down the fodder crops. 
There will be less hay and grain than usual, and 
consequently flocks and herds must be reduced tor 
Winter. In a season of plenty this cutting would 
mean the culls and inferior animals, but in a season 
like this we find animals which would otherwise be 
kept must he sold: Here then is the chance to obtain 
good stock. Some readers of The R. N.-Y. do not 
keep large flocks or herds, but they find it wise to 
keep some animals to take care of the wastes. The 
fewer they keep the better such animals ought to 
he— a nd now is their chance to buy improved blood 
, at a fair price. 
Whenever wc try to tell the truth about a humbug 
—be it a “novelty,” a land fraud or some business 
deal—we are always asked why we do not show up 
others that are “just as bad.” We were brought up 
by an old farmer who insisted that the workman 
should “stick to his row” until it was finished. This 
idea of doing a thorough job while you are at it is 
what we try to live up to, and wc therefore stick to 
one of these exposures until it is well rooted. The 
“Wonderberry” may he taken as a good type of un¬ 
tested novelties, one land deal or stock jobbing enter¬ 
prise is like another. We cannot name them all, but 
we pick up one that we feel sure of and try to ana- 
alyze it until the car marks and brands are plain to all. 
* 
Raymond A. Pearson, Commissioner of Agriculture 
of New York, is certainly “making good” as a State 
official. He came into office at a critical time. The 
Department was at that time regarded as an easy 
berth for politicians. The famous cattle case had 
enraged many of our best farmers. One crisis after 
another, like the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, 
burst upon the new Commissioner before he could 
learn the details of his new work. Mr. Pearson spent 
no time in talking or in telling what he would do, but 
with rare patience and great executive ability he 
quietly started in to size up the job and organize it. 
Results are now coming, and it gives us great pleasure 
to make record of the work of an honest and capable 
official. 
* 
The Borden Condensed Milk Company came out on 
September 15 with prices for milk for the next six 
months as follows: October, $1.80 per hundred 
pounds; November, $1.90; December, $1.95; January, 
$1.95; February, $1.90; March, $1.75. This is in the 
outer freight one. The nearer zones are supposed to 
receive 10 cents a hundred more. The average for the 
six months is about $1.87. Averages for four years 
previous are: 1908-9, $1.73; 1907-8, $1.77; 1906-7, $1.60; 
1905-6, $1.52. This means an increase over former 
years, and these Borden figures are taken as the stand¬ 
ard in setting prices for market milk. Various things 
are responsible for this small increase. The drought 
has made hay and fodder scarce, for the Bordens do 
not permit the use of silage. Grain will be high, and 
many dairymen were preparing to get rid of some of 
their cows. That meant a milk shortage, and there can 
be no doubt that farmers’ organizations and the con¬ 
stant talk about the margin between the farm price 
and the city price has had its effect. 
* 
There is no man living excepting the reporter who 
sees human life in all its sides and phases. He knows 
that to speak the truth in an article plaiuly and honestly 
will not only bring him trouble at the office, hut trouble 
with the person hit. . . The strong fight which you 
are making for right is noble, and from a newspaperman’s 
standpoint, great. But (he public is too fickle; the more 
they are fooled the better they like it. 
We have the above from a Massachusetts man who 
has had some newspaper experience. We firmly be¬ 
lieve that the public is rapidly losing confidence in 
the newspapers. “Truth” with these papers seems 
to be pretty much a matter of interested personal 
opinion. We do not agree that “the public is too 
fickle.” Our experience teaches us better. There 
never was a more loyal and consistent body of strong 
friends than the readers of The R. N.-Y. They have 
backed us up in honest and square-toed fashion 
whenever we needed help. At the New York State 
Fair last week a dozen men went out of their way 
to assure us that if we had ever needed financial 
backing in that cattle case a whisper would have 
brought twice that amount. No—there is nothing 
“fickle” about the support which country people will 
give to those who merit their confidence. 
* 
In speaking of the Wonderberry last week, Mr. A. 
I. Root asked why the experiment stations are not 
heard from. It is not our place to answer the ques¬ 
tion. We wrote to many of these stations asking for 
facts about the Wonderberry, but, so far as we can 
learn, these institutions have not tested it. They 
might reasonably ask, “Why should we do so?” At 
one time the experiment station, generally speaking, 
was alluded to as the “farmers’ watch dog.” This 
meant that the station scientists were to sift out the 
frauds from among those who sell feed, fertilizers or 
other goods and hold the names up for inspection. 
The Connecticut Station has, we believe, done more 
of this work than any other, and the work has been 
well done. As a rule, however, the “farmer’s dog” 
seems to have gone a little shy on “watching,” while 
hunting for new facts or methods. As to the Won¬ 
derberry, the need of a full investigation started when 
The R. N.-Y. refused to advertise it last Winter. At 
that time we frankly stated that we did not know 
what the plant wqs. The extravagant claims seemed 
unreasonable, and scientific men doubted its value. 
We have it on the authority of Mr. Burbank that 
$20,000 worth of the seeds were sold, the greater part 
of which wc believe was lost to the public and to 
seedsmen who offered standard varieties in a reason¬ 
able way. The battle over the Wonderberry involved 
the question of “booming” untested novelties, and 
this was a principle exactly like that which governs the 
excellent crusade against impure drugs and food. 
This question is a broad one, and we think the experi¬ 
ment stations missed an opportunity when they failed 
to make an example of this Wonderberry and get into 
the battle at once. 
* 
New York fruit growers in the counties along Lake 
Ontario were never more prosperous than now. Their 
crops are fair, or better, and prices will be high. For 
some years money has rolled into that section, and 
has been well spent. Houses and homes have been 
improved and made comfortable, and there has been 
a surprising sale of automobiles. At a recent fruit 
growers’ meeting in Wayne County over 30 motor 
cars came—all owned by farmers. In one place of 
300 inhabitants there are 16 of these cars. Farmers 
use them for a variety of purposes, and more and 
more are buying them. As we have been predicting 
for years, the demand for good apples has steadily in¬ 
creased, and these fruit sections of Western New 
York have risen to the occasion. The papers during 
recent years have been filled with stories of the wealth 
of Pacific Coast fruit sections. Many of these stories 
were true, yet they are not remarkable beside the facts 
which may be given about the lake counties of New 
York. The people of the East do not yet realize that 
a great business has developed in apple growing. 
* 
Those who think the farmers of New York are 
not following the fight for direct nominations should 
“guess again.” 
In your last issue you express the hope that the 
"primary investigation committee" will report that the 
West Is strongly in favor of the principle of the direct 
primary. In my opinion no such report can he looked 
for. They were appointed by the bosses for the sole pur¬ 
pose of discrediting the direct primary, and have selected 
their own evidence to a great extent, and they will fulfil 
their mission to the full satisfaction of their masters. 
This comes from the Senatorial district now con¬ 
trolled by Senator Allds. That committee did not 
go West with an open mind hunting the truth. They 
went after such evidence as would enable them to 
strike at Governor Hughes and direct nominations. 
Their report has already been discounted. We are 
glad they w'ent, for their action in this case will 
only add to the political education which our people 
need. They have got to understand that the poli¬ 
ticians will never give them anything but party 
politics. _ 
BREVITIES. 
Get the stoves ready for winter. 
You see these ‘‘tree doctors" need watching also. 
To clip or not to clip—the Alfalfa. That’s the ques¬ 
tion—page 862. 
Yes, we ought to make at least half the weight of the 
hog out of pasture. 
"Bug against Bug.”—Oh, for a death struggle between 
the housefly and the mosquilo ! 
We are still cutting the runners from the strawberry 
plants—in some eases for the tenth time. 
lx Russia average wages for farm labor are: Spring¬ 
time, 34 cents a day; hay and harvest, 41 cents—without 
food. 
No, we do not belong to the crowd who will not plant 
a tree because it may benefit some one else. We like to 
leave trees as a monument. 
The various horticultural societies seem to be striving 
to see which can offer most money for apple prizes this 
season. The Virginia society offers $273 in special prizes 
for boxed fruit alone. 
A “.liquid slate” lias been advertised with the claim 
that the formula was “invented” by a naval officer, and 
that the "slate” is largely used in the navy. Inquiry at 
the Navy Department shows that no such preparation is 
used. 
For some years now farmers have used shredded corn 
fodder for stock food. It lias been baled for sale, yet 
we are unable to find it on the Eastern markets. It ought 
to make a good horse feed, but ttie public have not yet 
learned to appreciate it. 
The Journal of the American Medical Association re¬ 
ports an increase in the number of tetanus cases this year 
resulting from Fourth of July injuries. It reports 150 
cases of which 125 resulted fatally. Blank cartridges were 
responsible for 130 cases of tetanus tills year. 
Government chemists are now studying methods of de¬ 
naturing non-edible olive oil so that it cannot be purified 
for domestic purposes. Non-edible oil is imported free of 
duty for merehanical and scientific purposes, but there is 
a duty of 40 and 50 cents a gallon on edible oil, and the 
fear that dutiable oil will be imported ns non-dutinble 
causes the Government to study some manner of denatur¬ 
ing It. 
The colonists of French Uganda have sent a pelition to 
the French Colonial Office asking that the lion be pro¬ 
tected from hunters on the ground that lions alone are 
able to rid them of (lie herbivorous animals that destroy 
their crops, especially elephants, rhinoceros and deer. 
Hunters are restricted in killing these hitter animals, and 
they have multiplied until they have become a nuisance 
to ranchers. 
