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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
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 Pnbluhln? Company, 409 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 
8 s. 6 d.. or 8*2 marks, or 10francs. Remit in money order, 
express order, personal check or hank 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. Hut 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 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 be 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. 
* 
The end of the Michigan branch of the Spencer 
Seedless Apple Co. came last week, when 285,000 
apple seedlings and 3,000 seedless grapevines were 
sold at auction. Some 75,000 of the trees had been 
budded with Seedless apples. This was the end of 
three years’ work in attempting to “boom” the Seed¬ 
less apple with too large a story. If the promoters 
had come out with a fair statement, and simply 
claimed that the apple was a long-keeping novelty 
of fair quality, they might have done a good busi¬ 
ness. 
* 
It looks as if John F. Spencer of Colorado and 
Brother Tucker of The Country Gentleman would 
walk arm in arm along the aisles of time as close 
relatives of the sphinx. Two years ago we asked 
Mr. Spencer some 50 times where he got the Seedless 
apple. He never revealed the secret to us. We have 
been asking Brother Tucker repeatedly if it is true 
that Dawley bought copies of The Country Gentle¬ 
man and paid for them out of State funds. He has 
suddenly become just as silent as Spencer was. We 
know the answer, but as Brother Tucker claims The 
Country Gentleman gets the news a week ahead of 
The R. N.-Y. we will let him speak first! 
* 
We regret that we have not yet obtained the name 
of the man who packed that barrel of “Choice New 
York Baldwins” noted on page 253. The man who 
put those miserable specimens in that barrel did all 
he could to ruin trade by destroying confidence. It 
must be evident to all that we must do something 
beside study out methods of producing fruit. We 
must take up the equally important subjects of pack¬ 
ing and selling. While it is said that apple dealers 
have lost thousands of dollars this year, consumers 
in the city have been forced to pay as much as ever. 
No effort seems to have been made to put the sur¬ 
plus apples within reach of those who needed them. 
We need organizations all over the East for packing 
and guaranteeing good apples. 
* 
The following note comes from a large club in 
northern New York: 
I read in my local paper the following: “The editor 
of The Rural New Yorker, than whom there is no bet¬ 
ter potato expert in the country says”—That reminds me 
that I want to find where is the best place in the country 
to buy 1,000 bushels of potatoes a year for our Club. 
We want only the finest potatoes that the country pro¬ 
duces. The trouble with the local potatoes is that they 
are soggy and poor. a. o. g. 
We fear that the reputation does not fit the indi¬ 
vidual. However, if we were after the highest qual¬ 
ity potatoes we would select a variety naturally high 
in per cent of starch. Some varieties are naturally 
better than others. We would have them grown in 
light, well-drained soil with chemical fertilizers. 
They should be thoroughly sprayed so as to keep 
the vines growing until the tubers were fully devel¬ 
oped. A good share of the poor quality of potatoes 
is due to premature death of vines. When the vines 
are killed at least a month before maturing, of course 
the tubers cannot be ripe or fully formed, and they 
cannot cool* out dry and mealy. If any farmer is 
producing these fully developed tubers on suitable 
land be ought to get a good price for them. We 
believe there are many, like the managers of this 
club, who will pay an increased price for quality in 
potatoes. The door to success with many farmers is 
marked “Quality and Honesty.” 
Recently a farmer wrote what we called a very 
sensible article in reply to a question in The R. N.-Y. 
We asked him to write again and give more of his 
experience. In reply he says, among other things: 
Do you realize the fact that I am only an ordinary 
working farmer, with a family of five small children to 
support, and without literary training, and doubt my 
ability to instruct your readers? 
Yes. We realize that, and call it about the best 
equipment he can have for writing. The great ma¬ 
jority of our readers are situated much as he is. 
They have to work hard for what they get, and 
those who have children want them to grow into 
men and women who will leave the world better than 
they find it. One trouble with writers who know or 
think they possess “literary ability” is that they de¬ 
pend upon that ability rather than upon experience 
or hard sense. 
* 
We figure 864 days since Dawley sold those Jersey 
cattle to Rogers. It is 700 days since Rogers lodged 
a complaint with the A. J. C. C.; 514 days since we 
first printed the facts; 367 days since the first inves¬ 
tigation at Dansville, and 163 days since the Execu¬ 
tive Committee voted to investigate once more. It 
is 254 days since Dawley served the papers in his 
libel suits; 110 days since the charges were presented 
to Gov. Hughes, and 83 days since Squiers and Bene¬ 
dict gave their testimony at Dansville. We have now 
nearly 18,000 readers who did not take The R. N.-Y. 
when this controversy began. We are asked by some 
of these newer readers to give a brief review of the 
case so they can keep it in mind. Some things die out 
with time, but the interest in this case seems, like old 
wine, to improve with age. That is why we say that 
The R. N.-Y. can stand this long delay far better 
than Dawley, the A. J. C. C., The Country Gentle¬ 
man or Gov. Hughes. We have the advantage in the 
fact that we have come out openly, published the 
facts and put our case before the public. Everyone 
knows that all through these 864 days Dawley has 
refused to come out openly and furnish the proof to 
brand the entire story as false. Honorable men know 
that is just what they would do if serious charges 
were made against them. It is also well understood 
that the A. J. C. C. has not conducted an open in¬ 
vestigation. While Squires and Benedict testified 
openly and positively, and identified the cows, Daw¬ 
ley was permitted to tell his story and present his 
arguments in private. It was the privilege of the 
A. J. C. C. to conduct their inquiry in this way, and 
we offer no criticism. We think, however, they 
would, under the circumstances, occupy a stronger 
position before the public if they had moved faster 
and opened the doors a little wider. We have gone 
to the public with an open case because we felt that 
the occasion demanded it. We confess our inability 
to pull secret wires and play politics with the band 
of crafty and well-trained politicians who are tied to 
Dawley. They do their most effective work under 
cover. Farmers who desire better things must meet 
them squarely in the open. Just now we are waiting 
for the A. J. C. C. report, very confident that it will 
do justice to the situation, and that we can do full 
justice to the report! 
There is great trouble in the fertilizer situation in 
Ohio. In that State the fertilizer control is in the 
hands of the State Board of Agriculture. The sec¬ 
retary is fertilizer inspector, and he has four depu¬ 
ties who go over the State collecting samples for 
analysis. The Board of Agriculture in Ohio consists 
of 10 members—two elected each year for a term of 
five years. Those members are elected by a con¬ 
vention of delegates from the various county so¬ 
cieties. Where there is no county society the County 
Institute society sends a delegate. Now last Summer 
one of the fertilizer deputies died suddenly. Investi¬ 
gation convinced the officers of the Board that this 
man had been “switching” samples for the Smith 
Agricultural Chemical Co. It is claimed that he col¬ 
lected samples from goods actually on the market 
and then, instead of sending these true samples for 
analysis, sent others specially prepared, so that they 
would analyze above the guarantee. At any rate 
after this man’s death true samples were collected 
and analyzed. Every one fell below the guaranteed 
amount required by law. Charges on the one hand 
of bribery and on the other of attempted extortion 
are made. The Secretary of the Board made up his 
report, showing the low quality of these fertilizers. 
Just as it was to go the printer the Smith Company 
obtained an injunction restraining the Board from 
issuing its report. This is on the plea that the Board 
is not legally organized. A hearing on this injunc¬ 
tion has been put off from time to time in spite of 
the demands of the secretary. The report is held up 
and farmers are unable to learn how the fertilizers 
sold in Ohio last year stood up to their guarantee. 
At the same time articles are appearing in the Ohio 
April 4, 
papers, evidently inspired, attacking the State Board 
and attempting to discredit it before the people. The 
evident intention is to try to show that the Board is 
illegal and that its work is untrustworthy, so that 
the truth about these inferior fertilizers may not be 
made public. This is a situation which ought to 
make the farmers of Ohio get on their feet and fight. 
Has it come to a point where a fertilizer firm can 
hold up a State Board so as to prevent the publica¬ 
tion of clear evidence of violation of the law? If so, 
there are just two things which the farmers of Ohio 
can do. They can sit down with folded hands and 
humbly take what comes to them, or they can make 
such a fight for their rights that the Legislature will 
listen. They ought to compel the Ohio State Senate 
to investigate this case at once. 
* 
A ship comes into harbor from the ocean. It has 
fought its way across through storms and wave, 
battling like a thing of life. People praise the men 
on deck who guided the ship, but few give a thought 
to those who work at the engine, down below the 
water, or the ballast piled along the keel to steady 
the ship. Did you ever stop to think that but for this 
ballast with its constant unshifting weight holding 
the ship true she would turn over and over when 
the waves strike their mighty blows? The most 
skilful captain would sink his ship at the first storm 
if there was no ballast at the bottom to bold the 
vessel true. A nation is much like a ship. To steer 
safely through storms of revolution or social or in¬ 
dustrial changes requires the skill of a captain, 
and far more the conservative weight of the bal¬ 
last. Unless there is solid weight of confi¬ 
dence, patriotism and firm conviction at the basis 
of society the nation will tumble over at the first 
storm. The safest ballast that any nation can carry 
is the farmer or small freeholder. Ultimately the 
future of this Republic will be determined by what 
is thought and spoken and done around the small 
firesides of those who have struggled for their homes 
and must struggle to hold them. The farm home is 
the ballast of the ship of state. The nation recog¬ 
nized this in the homestead laws by locating millions 
of its citizens on free land. This principle was also 
recognized when the agricultural colleges, stations, 
farmers’ institutes and other means of education 
were started. These institutions have done more 
than was expected of them. In some ways the school 
has gone past its teachers. While absorbing the 
principles of scientific agriculture farmers have un¬ 
consciously learned to apply definite principles to the 
science of government or representation. Having 
been taught that farming is an honorable business 
they have pride enough in it to demand clean and 
honorable men as leaders and teachers. There could 
be no wiser policy than to encourage this—nothing 
more foolish than to ignore it. The farmer who is 
worth anything as “ballast” does not want to be 
represented by politicians and rogues, and he will 
not be so represented. He will come up from the 
keel of the ship and kick those who are responsible 
for it into the ocean! 
BREVITIES. 
For the moss-backed pasture use sheep. 
Do not! Oh, do not! Sow cow peas until after corn 
planting time. 
Keep meat, coffee and tea away from the little child. 
Give him plenty of fat. 
The banks will hereafter refuse to lend over 10 cents 
a dozen on eggs in cold storage. 
The oil sprays for San Jos£ scale seem to have won 
their place at last by genuine merit. 
Our advJce to you is to be cheerful if you have to chop 
a cord of wood to get rid of the blues. 
We advise you to make your right hand keep a sharp 
lookout as to what the left hand is up to. 
If life seems to have no bright side why in the world 
don't you polish up some of the sMes that have grown 
dull? 
In Kent, England, farmers have applied for an order 
justifying them in killing all dogs found roaming at large 
between sunset and sunrise. 
A few dollars worth of shrubs and trees planted 
around your house may make hundreds of dollars difference 
in the price later, when you want to sell. 
It is said that New York City alone consumes 20,000 
pounds of nuts every day. A nut grove planted now and 
well cared for will beat Government bonds before the 
child Is gray-haired. 
Ix a Cornell poultry experiment the hens developed 
the had habit of egg eating. They were fed beef suet—three 
ounces each at the first outbreak and eight ounces at the 
second. This stopped it. 
We are asked how to kill out chiekweed. We have 
no remedy but constant hoeing and finger pulling. The 
seed is sometimes mixed with clover and we are told that 
the plant is sometimes sold for garden flowers! 
Some farmers who use the formalin solution for treat¬ 
ing seed think the liquid loses strength when left exposed 
to the air. Not so. Water evaporates faster than the 
formalin does so that the solution grows stronger rather 
than weaker. 
