364 
<THB RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 18, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BVSIN ESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1860 . 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl Street, New York. 
Herbert W. COLLING wood. President and Editor, 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm . F. Dillon, Secretary. 
Dr. Walter Van Fleet and Mrs. E. T. Roylk, Associate Editors. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8s. Gel., or 8 *2 marks, or 10*9 francs. Romit 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 hacked 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 onreoinmns, and any such swindler will be publicly ex¬ 
posed. We protect suberibers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust trilling 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 Nkw-Yorkeb 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. 
* 
That note about a demand for high-quality potatoes 
has brought letters from a number of farmers who 
say they produce what is wanted. Some of them 
want to know if it would pay them to advertise rich 
“mealy” potatoes for sale at a price above market 
quotations. We think so if they could really deliver 
a superior quality. Some of the soggy tubers we get 
are enough to drive a man to rice or cornmeal. We 
have no doubt there are hundreds of families as eager 
to obtain good potatoes as they are to buy good apples 
or good butter. 
* 
Prof. W. F. Massey tells us how the soil of the 
Delaware Peninsula is growing more productive. The 
continued use of cow peas and Crimson clover has 
made the soil stronger and the section prosperous. 
Around Salisbury truckers and fruit growers have 
brought in large quantities of stable manure. In some 
cases whole trainloads are hauled from New York. 
This, with the use of lime, has brought in Blue grass, 
so that good pastures and lawns are now possible 
where, years ago, grass could hardly be made to grow. 
The entire peninsula is getting to be one great bloom¬ 
ing object lesson in the possibilities of farming with 
the legumes like clover and peas. 
* 
Mr. McLennan tells us this week how a poor farm 
was quickly brought into a high state of cultivation. 
Next week he will go on and describe his crops and 
methods of growing them. The chief point of it all 
is that this farm is able to feed nearly one head of 
stock for each acre. We do not mean the rough for¬ 
age alone—the grain being purchased—for as we un¬ 
derstand it the cattle are fed on green forage alone or 
on silage and Alfalfa hay. This will interest the man 
who finds but little margin between his feed bill and 
his creamery check. We venture to say that any 
such scheme would be impossible outside of a section 
where Alfalfa would thrive. We accept the fact 
as another argument in favor of Alfalfa, for we know 
that all about Syracuse this wonderful crop has 
changed the entire aspect of farming, and given new 
values to thousands of acres of land. 
* 
For the past few weeks the whiz and puff of the 
sprayer have been heard in all the fruit growing 
districts. Viewed from a distance the mist blown 
from the nozzles looks like a puff of smoke. In 
the districts where the scale has made its appearance 
no one now thinks seriously of trying to grow fruit 
without spraying. For a time many were discouraged, 
feeling that they could not make headway against this 
deadly insect. There has come a revival of cour¬ 
age and with improved machines and improved mate¬ 
rials many who once faltered have come back to the 
fight. The lime and sulphur wash is still considered 
the standard remedy, but after last year’s experience 
the soluble oils must also be accepted. When these 
oils first appeared on the market the scientific men 
and many practical growers lined up to make them 
prove their worth. This was right. It was what 
the scientific men ought to have done, for it is part 
of their duty to test things and protect the public. 
The oil sprays have proved their worth so that now 
as we expected, instructions are given for preparing 
the oil at home. We are still inclined to fight shy 
of this advice. We have known men to injure their 
trees with a homemade kerosene emulsion. Mixing 
oils and caustics properly is a job for a chemist, and 
we advise a farmer to go slow with it. 
The New York Senate defeated Gov. Hughes in 
his efforts to stop race track gambling by a tie vote. 
The following Kelsey Senators voted with the 
'gamblers: 
JOSEPH ACKROYD, Utica. 
FRANK M. BOYCE, East Schodack. 
WM. T. WEMPLE, Schenectady. 
OWEN CASSIDY, Watkins. 
We shall print their names in blacker type here¬ 
after as a double reason for keeping them at home. 
Gov. Hughes may rest assured that a great majority 
of the people of New York are with him in this 
question. He ought to order a new election in the 
district formerly represented by the late Senator 
Franchot. Niagara and Orleans Counties can be 
relied upon to send an anti-gambling Senator. Then 
let the Governor call an extra session of the Senate 
and hold the Senators in Albany until they do their 
duty. 
* 
Do not think because we are waiting for Dawley, 
Governor Hughes and the A. J. C. C. to move the 
interest in this cattle case is dying out! It never was 
greater, and every day it grows like a snowball. The 
people who have followed this case cannot be fooled. 
They know whose duty it is to settle it and the longer 
that duty is shirked the ipore conviction grows. Let¬ 
ters pour in upon us from all over the country, and 
they are all one way. 
In these days of “toadying” to money or position, regard¬ 
less of right or wrong, it is most refreshing to find people 
who can stick right to a principle, and that is surely just 
what is involved in this case. It seems to me it is a ques¬ 
tion of vital interest to every breeder of purebred cattle, 
and not only that but I hope it will the means of wak¬ 
ing the farmers up to the fact that their influence amounts 
to something and that they may be encouraged to stand 
up for their rights even though it might be against the 
President himself. I cannot see but what this is as much 
a question of principle and that it involves about as 
much as race-track gambling. I sincerely hope that Gov. 
Hughes may see his mistake before it is too late; if he 
does not it will not be your fault. I am more than glad to 
see you stand up for tlie farmers. Keep right on and they 
will have cause “to rise up and call you blessed.” 
New Y'ork. c. i. s. 
The best thing about this case is the fact that 
farmers will settle it alone. There has been no help 
from the politicians, from the papers which should 
have helped or from the so-called agricultural leaders. 
The R. N.-Y. would have had no power whatever 
had it not been known that a great army of honest 
country people stood back of us. We can do nothing 
except express as well as we can the sentiments or 
convictions of those who believe in us. It seems as 
if no paper ever had stronger or more devoted friends. 
The fight for the principle in this case will, we be¬ 
lieve, have an effect upon the future which few of us 
imagine. The very obstinate folly which has tried to 
cover the truth so long has given public opinion a 
chance to grow together. We think Governor Hughes 
already sees his mistake in listening to Dawley and 
The Country Gentleman. They can tell plausible 
stories and malign character and motives when they 
choose, but we knew that sooner or later the mask 
would be torn from them. That is why we have 
been able to wait with good nature and confidence for 
the truth to shine through. 
* 
The New Jersey Legislature voted down a local 
option law. There can be no doubt that a large ma¬ 
jority of the people wanted a chance to vote liquor 
out of their townships or counties if they could. The 
politicians seemed afraid to offend the brewing and 
distilling interests, and so would not face the issue. 
This has taught the Jersey people a new way. In that 
State licenses to sell liquor are issued by the county 
judge. He is supposed to hear arguments on all 
sides and grant the license if it is needed; that is, if 
a majority of people want it. It has often happened 
that the judge feels compelled to grant a license be¬ 
cause no one appears against it. Now Jerseymen in¬ 
tend to organize, and whenever a saloon keeper 
comes for a license get together and oppose it. This 
plan, if carried out in the rural districts, will compel 
the judge to refuse the license, or ride over the 
wishes of a majority of the people in at least 75 per 
cent of the saloon districts. 
* 
The two letters on page 334 are fair samples of the 
way southern people write about apples. It seems that 
hundreds of them pay $4 or more for a barrel of 
“Choice New York Raldwins,” and find little miserable 
specimens all through the center. Here is the way 
one man in Tennessee puts it: 
That poem on the Apple Consumers’ League nearly drove 
me crazy the night I read it. Why? I rather guess you 
wouldn't say why if you saw the apple sthey sell in town. 
$2.50 a bushel of rind and core with just enough saw¬ 
dust to stop the rind from falling in.. 
Now nothing is doing New York fruit growers 
more harm than this fraudulent packing. The south¬ 
ern people want our apples, and are ready to pay 
fair prices for them. We have sold many boxed 
apples in the South, and know how the people appre¬ 
ciate a guaranteed article. The great trouble is that 
second class fruit and culls have been dumped upon 
the market at the price of good fruit. A retailer buys 
a barrel of apples and is obliged to sort out 30 per 
cent or more as unsalable. He is forced to put a high 
price on the balance in order to get his money back, 
and the result is apples are so high that people cannot 
afford to buy them. We have learned that the house¬ 
hold trade calls for medium-sized fruit, firm and well 
colored. Millions of boxes of this fruit can be sold 
at a popular price of $1.50 a box in a way that will 
leave a good profit to the growers. We think the 
only way out will be for the growers to form organ¬ 
izations and box and handle their own fruit. We see 
no other way of creating confidence in “Choice New 
York Baldwins.” 
* 
Ordinarily we say little about the subscription work 
here. A good many letters have been coming of late 
which are more than usually interesting, since they 
are written by people who have tried the short term 
offer of 10 weeks. Here, for example, is one from 
Pennsylvania: 
Through the kindness of a friend I have received The 
R. N.-Y. for 10 weeks and now I simply cannot do without 
it. I like it because it stands up for the farmer and his 
rights, and then everything is so practical, and any man 
of ordinary education can understand the subjects treated. 
J. M. Y. 
Probably a good many readers do not realize how 
much they can help us by sending these short-term 
subscriptions. The great majority of them become 
yearly subscribers. No man can take a single number 
of The R. N.-Y. and form a clear idea of what it 
will be for a year. We have no company airs or 
dress-up occasions. Week after week we plan to put 
out the best we have—not for the brilliant and strong 
alone, but for all who honestly try to conduct a home 
and a farm. With 10 issues a reader can tell whether 
we are to be good neighbors or not, and that is why 
the short-term subscription helps as it does. 
* 
Brother Tucker of The Country Gentleman has 
thus far dodged all answer to our recent questions. 
We are left to assume then that Dawley did buy,, 
copies of The Country Gentleman and paid for them 
with State money. For Brother Tucker’s benefit we 
repeat our last question: 
Ife now ask you, Mr. Tucker, did the Buffalo Fertilizer 
Company give you an order for 15,000 copies of your paper 
in which this fertilizer article appearsf Are they mailing 
these papers to farmers as your endorsement of their 
charactert 
We will see from the article on the next page what 
his own figures show. If the goods are no better 
than those he sampled in person the Buffalo Fertilizer 
Co. should pay back to farmers $30,450 on 15,000 
tons which Mr. Tucker helped sell last year. We 
understand Mr. Tucker offers to make good losses to 
his readers when the claim of his advertiser does not 
fit the goods. The last number of The Country Gen¬ 
tleman contains a full page advertisement of the Buf¬ 
falo Fertilizer Co. A strong feature of this is a 
photograph of “Hon. F. E. Dawley” standing in a 
cornfield which had been fertilized with Buffalo goods. 
Tucker, Dawley and the Buffalo Co.! A strong com¬ 
bination, that. _ 
BREVITIES. 
A “loafer” is one willing to oat the loaf earned by 
another. 
Mr. Osborn certainly makes an easy job of tarring the 
seed corn. 
It 'ooks sometimes as if the “powers that be” are also 
the powers that beat. 
In Arizona they talk of feeding a working team on 1 Vj 
acre of Alfalfa. Some of us cannot feed a horse for less 
than $100 a year. 
A Japanese dairyman advertises “centrefugaiized milk.” 
This sounds unfamiliar—but it may refer to the use of the 
centrifugal separator. 
Put it down as a sure thing that ice freezing on fruit 
trees will not kill the San Jos6 scale. The trees may be 
completely ice covered, yet the scale will come out as lively 
as ever. 
The New York Board of Health now requires oyster 
dealers to get a permit from that body. This is to insure 
supervision of the oyster-fattening beds, which may, under 
some conditions, become a source of typhoid infection. 
If you are a dairyman with a large herd to feed and 
find a good share of your cultivated land bare this Spring 
you should take a day off and think what it would mean 
to have that ground covered with wheat, rye or Crimson 
clover. 
Mr. McLennan says he used 500 tons of street sweep¬ 
ings on that farm to “start” it. Average analysis shows 
six pounds of nitrogen, eight of phosphoric acid and six 
of potash in a ton of street sweepings. The 500 tons of 
sweepings gave the plant food contained in 10 tons of 
nitrate of soda. 15 tons acid phosphate and three tons 
muriate of potash. These would have cost :n the open 
market nearly $000, and the sweepings gave a value in 
addition to their actual plant food. 
