662 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 15. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Hornet. 
Established 1850. 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl Street, New Pork. 
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, Rover, 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 I0'2 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 ourcolumns, and any such swindler will be publicly ex¬ 
posed. We protect subcribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust trilling 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. 
* 
We are often asked how many farmers in New 
York request help of the Agricultural Department in 
driving tuberculosis from their herds. Commissioner 
Pearson says that since the middle of April about 
130 farmers have applied for such aid. About 90 
per cent of those who apply request the use of tuber¬ 
culin. In only a few special cases has any tuber¬ 
culin been used as yet, but work will begin with it soon. 
* 
We exposed those “Choice New York Baldwins” 
and gave a picture of the trash found in the middle 
of the barrel. We also gave the names of men who 
are willing to put their name on the package. As a 
result we hear from dozens of men who intend this 
year to pack with the. greatest care and put name 
and trademark on every package. That is the most 
encouraging thing about the fruit trade that we have 
heard yet. A man’s name must stand for the poorest 
apples in the barrel! 
* 
That Pennsylvania college boy has learned much 
on his trip to the Kansas harvest fields. It would 
be a good thing if more young people could work 
back and forth between the two sections. If there is 
anything that beats the ignorance of the average 
eastern man regarding western conditions it is the 
ignorance of the western man regarding the feeling 
of eastern farmers. That eastern boy finds that west¬ 
ern people are strong and true. The western people 
should realize that “Wall Street” does not represent 
the true eastern feeling. Our farmers are after the 
same things that your people are striving for. 
* 
The nearer we come to the harvest the more un¬ 
certain the apple crop appears. There is little doubt 
that there is not a full supply of first-class stock. 
We do not think even the apple shippers will claim 
a large crop. We think, however, that buyers, 
remembering the disaster of last year, will buy with 
caution. Growers ought to get fair prices for fair 
stock, but it is too early yet to be sure of prices. 
We hope the folly of last year will not be repeated 
and worthless trash packed and marked “Choice New 
York Baldwins.” Such practice will do more harm 
to New York orchards than the San Jose scale ever 
could. 
* 
There are many people who do not realize that a 
circular can be printed in imitation of a typewriter 
just as well as with ordinary printed letters. When 
such people get one of these imitation typewritten 
sheets they think some one has sent them a long per¬ 
sonal letter. It is no more a letter than a page out 
of a nrinted book. This is one of the cheapest tricks 
in the trade. Almost any man who does not under¬ 
stand it will feel flattered at receiving what he sup¬ 
poses is a long personal letter when every part of it 
except his name and the date, including the signa¬ 
ture is printed. He gets the same thing that hun¬ 
dreds of others receive. 
* 
We used to consider white mice one of the most 
useless forms of live stock, but when the British sub¬ 
marine A9 recently went on a cruise without any 
white mice on board the entire crew had a narrow 
escape from death as a result. It seems that these 
little creatures are extremely sensitive to the odor 
of escaping petrol or gasoline, the mice beginning 
to squeak at the top of their tiny lungs the instant 
they smell the vapor, long before a human "being can 
detect it. This vapor is the greatest danger on a 
submarine, and the British Admiralty provides first- 
alarm squads of mice for this purpose. The A9 was 
sent to sea without the mice because it was testing a 
machine to be used in their place—and the entire crew 
was rendered unconscious by escaping vapors. Boats¬ 
wain White Mouse must feel proud to realize that 
he is not only drawing official rations, like his hated 
enemy, the cat, who is often engaged in a Govern¬ 
ment position, but is also a petty officer in the British 
Navy/ 
* 
Opportunity has come to New York .‘armers. By 
forcing the renomination of Governor Hughes they 
will be able to dominate the situation and ensure the 
passage of a primary nominations law. They never 
had such a chance before, and if they now neglect 
it their sons may never see another. It cannot be 
said that The R. N.-Y. has received treatment from 
the Governor which should induce us to boil over 
in enthusiasm for him. There is nothing about him 
which prompts men to pull off their coats and fight 
for him, yet we all recognize his courage, his abil¬ 
ity and his sincere desire to carry out his legislative 
programme. Therefore, we do not see how farmers 
can do a more patriotic thing than to line up back of 
the Governor and help nominate him. They can do 
it if they try. 
* 
A story that will rank in age and popularity with 
“Mary Had a Little Lamb” or “Old Dog Tray” is 
the one about Jersey mosquitoes. They stung a 
blacksmith so that he crawled under an iron kettle 
for safety. Then the mosquitoes lit on the outside 
of this kettle and ran their bills through it. The 
blacksmith with his hammer clinched these bills until 
there were so many of the insects that they flew away 
with the kettle. So runs the tale and some visitors 
who have gone into the Jersey coast for a Summer 
outing are inclined to believe it. We shall have to 
lift the dead weight of talcs like the above before 
people will believe the statement that the Jersey 
mosquito is doomed. Yet we believe the statement is 
true. It is possible by using the methods now em¬ 
ployed in New Jersey practically to wipe out the mos¬ 
quito curse. That is why we shall take the space to 
tell the story thoroughly. The jokers have had their 
fun over this mosquito hunting; let us now take it 
up seriously. 
* 
The daily papers print the following news item: 
Ithaca, N. Y., August 4.—It is reported that State Sena¬ 
tor Owen Cassidy, who represents Tompkins, Tioga, 
Schuyler and Chemung counties at Albany and whose vote 
against the anti-betting bills defeated the legislation the 
first time it was brought before the Senate, has been 
asked by the Republican county committee to withdraw 
from the Senatorial race. Representative John Dwight of 
Drydeu called bis county delegation togetbei to-day with 
the purpose, it is understood, of formulating the request to 
withdraw. Cassidy was unanimously indorsed at the lat¬ 
est Tompkins county Republican convention and delegates 
were instructed to vote for him. This was before the 
race-track bills came up. 
We are not surprised at this statement, Our can¬ 
vass of the district shows feeling against Senator 
Cassidy, which is sure to frighten the politicians. 
They begin to see the writing on the wall. John 
Dwight is a member of the famous firm of “John 
and I,” manufacturers of public opinion and think¬ 
ers for the public. The fact is that Mr. Dwight 
now knows that his own vote is likely to be se¬ 
riously cut down. All these things show how the 
leaven is working. 
* 
An Iowa man who tells what great things the pri¬ 
mary nominations law is doing for his State says: 
“There are 50 colleges on our hills, 300 high schools 
nearly as good as colleges and 300 to 500 school 
houses in every county! Intelligence is high—with 
the most exacting ideas of justice.” 
Those colleges and schools are not groping back 
in the past and dealing with dead languages and pet¬ 
rified ideas. Those who patronize them demand liv¬ 
ing ideas—for the present and future rather than for 
the past. It seems to be part of an Iowa hoy’s educa¬ 
tion to realize his duty to the State. If he is fairly 
taught he cannot help but see that he as an individual 
cannot do his full public duty and simply dance or 
vote when a politician pulls the string. He can t 
get down into the heart of things by merely voting 
for a ticket which the politicians put up for him. 
He has got to have a hand in making the ticket. 
They thought and fought that out in Iowa and the 
result is direct nominations by a primary. New York 
has more colleges and more schools and a greater 
need of a primary nominations law. As a rule our 
eastern colleges seem more concerned with the per¬ 
sonal interests of the student than with his duty to 
the public. Many of them are supported by endow¬ 
ments so that they do not need to study and follow 
popular demand. There are some strong exceptions, 
but the spirit of most eastern colleges is too conser¬ 
vative to suit the needs of those who demand reforms. 
That makes all the more reason why plain men who 
see the evil of our present political system should 
work harder than ever to spread the truth. 
We have spoken several times of the Long Island 
Produce Exchange. This organization was formed 
by farmers who hoped through it to handle their 
potato and other crops through their own agents. A 
stock company was formed, stock was sold and direc¬ 
tors appointed. When the season opened the Ex¬ 
change found a fight on its hands at once. The 
dealers had been making too mucll out of Long Island 
potatoes in the past to let any part of their share go 
back to the farmers. The first move in such a battle 
usually is to break up the organization by buying off 
the members. This is done by offering prices above 
the market and more than the Exchange can honestly 
pay. The dealers or middle men can usually afford 
to buy a few potatoes at a high figure and sell them 
at a loss if by so doing they can get some members 
of the Exchange to break their contract and sell out¬ 
side the Exchange. That is the real object of any 
such move and we regret to say that in the past this 
method of fighting has proved effective. Once let 
these dealers disrupt the Exchange and they have no 
opposition. They can then agree among themselves 
on a low price and get back 10 times what they 
paid in high prices at first. We hope the Long Island 
farmers will see through all this and stick to their 
Exchange through thick and thin. They can well 
afford to give half of the proceeds of their crop if 
need be to float the Exchange through the season. 
Stick to it. 
* 
The city papers recently noted the arrival of an 
explorer from South America, who was reported 
to have found “the Venus flytrap species of orchid,” 
which lie found had “a brain, digestive organs and 
a nervous system like a human being.” The plant 
referred to, Dionaea muscipula, is not an orchid, but 
a near relation to the little sundew of our northern 
swamps, and has long been known, being abundant 
in certain restricted areas in North, and we think, 
South Carolina. It is grouped among insect-eating 
plants; many famous naturalists have studied it, and 
there is a large amount of special literature devoted 
to it. Its leaf blade forms a fringed and hairy 
trap, shaped like two tiny clam shells hinged to¬ 
gether down the back; when an unwary insect alights 
upon it, touching the sensitive hairs within, these 
leaves dose up tightly, just as the clam-shell might. 
The insect is smothered within, and literally digested. 
A great many carnivorous or insectivorous plants 
are now known, and as Grant Allen points out, in 
almost every case they inhabit places where the 
marshy and waterlogged soil is wanting in nitrogen 
compounds. The insect-eating leaves are thus a de¬ 
vice to supply the plant with nitrogen by means of 
its foliage, where the roots are powerless for the pur¬ 
pose. The Venus flytrap may have a brain, as the 
reporters say, but it does not appear highly intel¬ 
lectual. One of the innocent pleasures of our child¬ 
hood was to go into the greenhouse and tickle the 
Venus flytrap with a straw, thus inducing it to close 
up, under the impression that ns unwary dinner had 
walked in, and no matter how often the trick was 
played upon it, the confiding plant never failed to 
respond. _ 
BREVITIES. 
What about whitewashing tar paper to make a cooler 
roof? 
Will some one tell the hoys a way to catch live wood¬ 
chucks—not a steel trap. 
What do you do for cabbage worms after the head is 
too large to make Paris-green safe? 
A Michigan man tells of putting up 65 good loads of 
Alfalfa from 27 acres! That makes some of us whistle! 
Egypt produced last year 634,660,951 pounds of cotton! 
Even the rich soil of the Nile valley needs fertilizers for 
continuous cropping. 
Some good water crops are being made this years. Dur- 
the week ending June 6 19 vessels from Lunenburg, N. S., 
caught $98,475 worth of mackerel! 
Peru has a representative in this country studying Die 
dairy business. There are said to he good opportunities in 
South American cities for the sale of milk and butter. 
The English sparrow became a great nuisance in many 
localities. It steals grain and other food and destroys 
some of our best bird friends. Another bird, the English 
starling, is reported to he driving the sparrows away from 
some localities. This starling may have faults which will 
even make its police duty a whrse nuisance than ever. 
Hint to sweet corn eaters from Kansas: “I think a 
little care in cutting cooked corn on the cob. splitting it 
in the middle of each row. will much improve the corn 
diet, improve it as a better form for digesting, and more 
pleasant to eat at the time. 1 only found this out last 
Fall, many may have known it, and more do not so eat it, 
but will like it better if they cut it on the back.”— a. h. g. 
In the vicinity of Paris, France, we afe told that market 
gardeners employ 360,000 hotbed sash and 2,160,000 bell- 
glasses, from which early vegetables to the value of 
13.500.000 franees (about $2,700,000) are sold each year. 
The culture of lettuce and similar crops under bell glasses 
sounds like a very puttering job to American growers, 
hut the success attained in France is causing English 
truckers to study it closely, and gardening under the 
French system is attaining considerable proportions in Eng¬ 
land. 
