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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FA It ME It'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
Published weekly by the Itural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl Street, New York* 
Herbert W. Co lei ng wood, 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 
8s. 6d., or 8%: marks, or 10 L francs. Remit in money order, 
express order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
“A SQUARE DEAL.” 
We 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 oureolumns, and any such swindlerwill be publicly ex¬ 
posed. We protect subcribers 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 Nkw-Yorkeij 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. 
♦ 
Will you tell us your method of soaking seed 
potatoes to kill the scab germs? Do you use a tank 
or a barrel? Do you rinse the potatoes first? How 
do you lift the potatoes and how do you get them 
out of the tank? How often do you add the solu¬ 
tion? The theory is understood, but how do you 
practice ? 
* 
There has been considerable demand for a plain 
and practical article on Jersey cattle—showing the 
difference between the various families or “strains.” 
Mr. Morse has prepared one for us, and the first in¬ 
stallment is found on page 272. If any better article 
of the sort has before been printed we are ready to 
he “shown.” The Jersey cow is all right, and always 
has been, in spite of some misfit papers. 
* 
The latest development in the Dawley case is an 
order from Judge Andrews consolidating the three 
suits in one, so they may all be tried together. We 
applied for this in February on the ground that since 
the evidence in all the suits would be much the same 
there would be no need of three separate trials. Daw- 
ley’s attorney opposed his, but after reviewing the 
papers Judge Andrews signed the order. We have 
put the case on the calendar, but it will hardly be 
reached in the March term. We hope, however, to 
reach it in April. 
* 
On page 304 we print a copy of a patented process 
of making butter without a churn. A patent is prop¬ 
erty, the same as a man’s house; at the same time 
it is a public thing which people are free to study. 
As will appear from the printed description this pro¬ 
cess of raising cream is essentially the same as the 
old “Devonshire” method long used in England. We 
are not discussing the validity of the patent or 
whether the courts would sustain such claims. Is it 
not, however, a strange commentary upon the rules of 
society that a patent can be obtained on such a pro¬ 
cess, while the originator of a valuable new variety 
secures no protection from the Government? 
* 
While the grass has hardly started yet in the 
Northern States the question of haying tools is in 
order. The following questions have no doubt 
occurred to many. We print them here and ask hay¬ 
makers to give their experience. Given' good weather 
we have found it comparatively easy to do the out¬ 
side work with hay. The job of getting it into the 
barn is often a hard one. Tell us how you do it! 
I would like to hear from the readers of The R. N.-Y t . 
as to the relative merits of horse forks and slings for 
unloading hay. The forks leave too much hay on the 
rigging and scatter too much unless hay is long and coarse. 
Cannot ordinary meadow hay be handled much better with 
slings? IIow much space is needed in top of barn to use 
slings advantageously? Do they not need much more room 
than forks? Can the barn be filled as full with slings? 
Connecticut. m. m. c. 
* 
We hear so much of the great Alfalfa fields of the 
West that some farmers with small farms become dis¬ 
couraged. They think this wonderful crop is for 
large farms entirely. They are wrong. One of the 
most useful places for Alfalfa is on the comparatively 
small fruit or truck farm. Work horses must be fed 
on these farms and one or two cows may be kept. 
The feed bill for such animals is often very heavy 
and the land is too valuable to sow to Timothy or 
plant in corn. Where Alfalfa will produce the equiv¬ 
alent of four tons of wheat bran per acre, even the 
fruit grower can afford to give it place. A few acres 
of it on some back part of the farm will feed the 
stock and keep off the feed dealer. The man of few 
acres who is obliged to keep stock should by all 
means try Alfalfa. 
* 
On March 17 the Borden Condensed Milk Company 
announced the prices for milk for the next six months, 
as follows: April, $1.50 per 100 pounds; May, $1.20; 
June, $1.00; July, $1.15; August, $1.25; September, 
$1.45. This is in the outer or 32-cent zone, and is 
the same price as was paid last year except for April, 
which is five cents higher. The company is rejecting 
contracts with some producers who do not furnish 
much Winter milk, and they seem to be unwilling to 
take on new producers, or old ones who do not strive 
to meet requirements in other respects. The Dairy 
Products Company offers five cents under the Bordens, 
which is within about one per cent of the price they 
paid last year. Other dealers are giving out their 
prices also, and they follow more or less closely the 
Borden schedule. 
* 
The lack of apples seems to go hard with some 
of our western friends. Here we have the wail of a 
writer in the Kansas City Star: 
In this year of apple famine and apple appreciation the 
diabolical wisdom of the serpent that tempted Mother Eve 
strikes us Missourians so bard we are not inclined to blame 
her so much for yielding. If the tempter were to come 
to these parts right now with a barrel of good, sound, 
ripe and juicy apples as a temptation, lie would get every 
man in this township. It would be the men first this 
time, because a man can outrun a woman. 
But why do not some of these Missourians send 
East and buy our surplus? Last week Boston alone 
had 39,000 barrels more in storage than there were at 
the same date last year. These apple eaters do not need 
to show that they can outrun Eve in chasing for an 
apple. Let them rather pull out some of the money 
that Ben Davis has made for them in former years 
and empty the storage houses in this part of the 
country. 
* 
Bills have been introduced in the New Jersey 
Senate to abolish all Spring shooting at all varieties 
of game birds, and also to do away with shooting 
woodcock in July. These bills should receive the 
support of all farmers. Hunters, gunners and sports¬ 
men generally are obnoxious to farmers, as they fre¬ 
quently tramp over their farms practically without 
let or hindrance. The July woodcock shooter is espe¬ 
cially obnoxious, as he stamps over the meadows be¬ 
fore the grass is cut, beating it down, and shoots 
around the men and teams when they are haying. 
A sportsman friend who formerly indulged in July 
woodcock shooting tells us that he has been “invited” 
to “get off” more times in July than at all other sea¬ 
sons combined. The bills referred to above stop all 
shooting January 1 of each year. The open season 
begins with baybirds August 1. Woodcock may be 
shot between October 1 and January 1, and quail, 
partridge and rabbits from November 10 until Jan¬ 
uary 1. 
* 
Potato growing is a great business at the eastern 
end of Long Island. In the light soil and with chem¬ 
ical fertilizers early tubers of fine quality are pro¬ 
duced. It is said that over 5,000,000 bushels are 
annually sold and “Long Island potatoes” have a 
trademark of their own in the cities. One year with 
another fair prices are obtained, but many growers 
feel that the system of individual selling and shipping 
does not give them all they ought to have. They are 
now considering a plan for combining so as to handle 
the crop in a lump. With a central organization in 
control of the crop agents could be put in the various 
markets to take care of shipments so that there would 
not be a glut at any one place. There are several 
places in the country where such co-operative plans 
have given great satisfaction. They require the best 
business management and faith and loyalty on the 
part of members. By reason of its situation and the 
character of its people the east end of Long Island 
ought to be an ideal place for trying the experiment. 
* 
The Supreme Court has upheld what is known as 
the anti-rebate law. In June, 1905, the Burlington 
Railroad made a contract to carry oleo oil to Norway. 
The rate on it from the Mississippi to New York was 
to be 23 cents per 100 pounds. Later one of the con¬ 
necting railroads objected and the Interstate Com¬ 
merce Commission raised the rate to 35 cents. The 
Burlington road continued to ship under the contract 
at the 23 cent rate. It was convicted of granting con¬ 
cessions of 12 cents per 100 pounds, and the packing 
houses of Armour, Swift, Morris and Cudahy were 
convicted of receiving these concessions and fined 
$15,000 each. Appeal to the Supreme Court was 
taken on several grounds. The most important argu¬ 
ments were that the shipments were made through 
March 28, 
to foreign countries and that the contract was legal 
when made, and therefore the law could not make it 
illegal. The court settles these points by declaring 
that the law intends that all shippers are to he treated 
alike; that no secret alteration of rates will he per¬ 
mitted and that the packers well knew that the rates 
had been changed. 
* 
The weak point of most farm teams is at the 
shoulders. There the power of the horse is forced 
against the collar. If the shoulder is raw or sore 
every effort to pull means agony for the horse and 
the most faithful animal must flinch and halt at the 
pain. Most sore shoulders are caused by ill-fitting 
collars. Through mistaken kindness drivers think 
they must have some soft, yielding mass on the shoul¬ 
der. So they put a thick, hot pad under a stuffed 
leather collar. The result is that on hot days the 
horse’s shoulder is fairly stewed by the heat. The 
pad slips out of place and as the collar has been left 
too large to accommodate the pad it wears on the 
shoulder and produces a sore. Sore shoulders on the 
farm team is like a broken-down engine in a factory. 
Right now when Spring work is opening is the most 
important time for saving the horse’s shoulder. We 
want the best experience we can get from farmers. 
What is the best collar and how do you keep the 
shoulder tough and free from sores? Collars made 
of steel are now on the market, and are praised by 
some of our readers who have used them. At first 
thought it will seem to many that a steel collar would 
prove a cruel part of the harness, and yet it cannot 
do more harm than a hot pad and a soft, ill-fitting 
collar. We are told about running engines and pumps 
—how about the most important farm power of all— 
the horse’s shoulder? 
* 
Practically every day we are asked what the A. J. 
C. C. is doing about that investigation. On October 24 
of last year the Executive Committee authorized Presi¬ 
dent Darling of the Club to appoint a man or men to 
investigate the purity of breeding cf all animals bred 
and registered by Mr. Dawley for the past six years. 
The original sale of catttle was made November 22, 
1905. Mr. Darling found it very difficult to obtain 
just the men to conduct this investigation. 'He finally 
selected Mr. E. B. Keeney, a member of the Executive 
Committee, and on January 10 testimony was taken 
at Dansville. On this occasion F. D. Squiers posi.ively 
identified cows which had been sold to Rogers for 
purebred animals as grades which he previously sold 
• to Dawley. Melvin Benedict corroborated Squiers, 
and positively identified the same cows. He worked 
with them over a year after Squiers sold them. Mr. 
Benedict also positively identified the cow Dotshome 
Harmony which the A. J. C. C. committee had de¬ 
clared spurious, but which Dawley says he never 
owned. At this time Dawley refused to give any 
public testimony. All this occurred 71 days ago. 
Since that time several meetings have been held. Mr. 
Dawley and his attorney have presented their case, 
hut The R. N.-Y. has taken no further part in the 
investigation, and does not know what story Mr. Daw¬ 
ley told. Thus no public investigation has been held, 
but merely a private inquiry on the part of the Club. 
We submitted testimony regarding the identity of the 
cows openly, but it has been thought best by the 
Club to take Mr. Dawley’s side of the case in private. 
Having confidence in the character of Squiers and Ben¬ 
edict, and knowing the positive testimony they gave, 
we believe their story is absolutely true. We are now 
informed that the evidence has not all been submitted 
to the Club. No doubt it will reach them soon, and 
they wnl act promptly. We now wait for their 
report. _ 
BREVITIES. 
Don't wait loo long for your spraying-—get at it at once. 
What sort of a tune can your daughter play on the 
dishpan? 
Do not plant peach trees in a chicken yard. The peach 
cannot stand too much prosperity. 
Up to March 11, 2,229,295 barrels of apples had been 
sent to Europe this year against 2,1(53,939 last year. 
Now is tin* time to tell you that there is very little 
necessity for having the grounds around a (farmhouse so 
barren and drear. Make a start to fix them up this year. 
Those of us who used to take sulphur and molasses as 
a “Spring medicine” can appreciate what is said about 
sulphur and mice. Of course the sulphur helped the mice 
to eat more corn. 
The National Plant Introduction Garden at Chico. Cal., 
is experimenting with the raising of the Cork oak, which 
has not yet been grown commercially in the United States. 
The Cork oak thrives in Spain, where it is the basis of an 
important industry. 
We have heard of a case where a man who served in 
the Spanish War has been swindling country boys by pass¬ 
ing as a special recruiting officer, charging a fee of $2 
for passing applicants into the U. S. Army. Uncle Sam 
is too glad to get clean, healthy farm-raised young men 
for army or navy to charge them any admission fee. 
