894 
August 24. 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country anil Suburban IIome9 
Established i8S0 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
Jons J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
H’k, F. Dillon. Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 8s. 6d., or 
8H marks, or 10J4 francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates 60 cents 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” 
tVo believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. But to make doubly sure we will make good any loss to paid 
subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler advertising in our 
columns, and any such swindler will lie publicly exposed. We protect sub¬ 
scribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee to adjust trifling differences 
between subscribers and honest, responsible 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. 
Quite likely some of our readers have been offered 
stock in a tin mine with a claim that the United 
States Government is a partner. It seems that pro¬ 
moters circulate the report that the Government offers 
a reward for the discovery of a tin mine. In 1911 
this country produced only $54,013 worth of tin. 
There was secured from old scrap heaps $12,353,040 
worth of tin, and we imported $43,346,394 worth! It 
would therefore be a great national blessing if tin 
deposits could be discovered here, and stock in a tin 
mine looks as bright as a new tin pail. The United 
States Government does not offer and never has 
offered any reward for a tin or any other mine. Nor 
is there any tin mine in sight. So keep hold of your 
“tin” when they come offering tin mine stock—with 
a Government “reward” tacked to it. 
* 
Thi 9 is about the last call for the cover crop in 
corn and for Alfalfa seeding. We wish we could 
make you realize what it means to most of our soils 
to have them alive during the Fall and Winter. There 
may be a few cases—such as an old meadow—where 
bare ground is better, but nine times out of 10 the 
cover crop will pay great dividends. Do not let your 
corn ground remain bare this Fall. As for Alfalfa, 
every year makes the argument for this crop stronger. 
It grows like a vigorous tree. It is a mistake to 
suppose that Alfalfa is only a crop for the large 
stock growers. It is even more valuable for fruit 
growers and gardeners. Their land is high-priced 
and they cannot afford to keep it in ordinary grass. 
A few acres in good Alfalfa will provide hay for 
their stock and not interfere with fruit or vegetables. 
Cover crops and Alfalfa! 
* 
We have the following from the Wareham, Mass., 
Courier for August 8: 
Over 50 sacks of mail have been received at this office 
the past week, constituting public documents franked by 
Senator Boies Penrose, of Pennsylvania, to a man who 
lives on the Marion It. F. D. route. Assuming that the 
sacks contained matter to be used in the Presidential cam¬ 
paign, it is to be concluded that this section will have 
plenty of reading matter soon. 
Nice business, surely, when Congress is pleading 
poverty as an excuse for holding back a fair parcels 
post. What has Senator Boies Penrose got to do 
with the people of Massachusetts? He has troubles 
enough of his own in Pennsylvania. No doubt these 
sacks contain a defense of what the Roosevelt men 
call daylight robbery of Republican delegates. Sen¬ 
ator Penrose played a star part in that job. But 
think of the unhaltered nerve of loading up the mails 
with this political stuff and then talking about serving 
the people. It looks as if we had here the reason 
why all these political parties run away from parcels 
post. They all want the “50 sacks of mail” privilege. 
* 
Wherever a farmers’ institute is held and any 
apples are grown for market, there should be a 
demonstration of apple packing to show just how a 
barrel may be packed so that it will not go slack in a 
100-mile trip on the cars. A practical apple packer 
should do this demonstrating. He need not make any 
long speech, but merely show the how and why of 
the job. Anyone who has seen apples opened in New 
York stores knows that a very large amount of money 
is lost every year through the bruising of apples that 
were not properly packed. A man who knows how 
can put up a barrel of apples so that after shipment 
and handling the head will fly out with the pressure 
when the hoops are loosened, instead of showing a 
slack space of two or three inches, with two-thirds of 
the apples bruised from rattling about. Such a demon¬ 
stration by a man who knows how would be more 
popular and useful than many long lectures. When¬ 
ever the weather will permit the barrel of apples 
packed at one meeting should be shipped on to the 
next, and opened there, thus giving a double demon¬ 
stration. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Two tilings about the common house fly are settled. 
It carries disease germs on its feet and uses our 
food as a door mat! It breeds in horse manure, 
and if this san be kept out of its reach there will 
be a blight on the fly crop. On many large farms 
it is impossible to control the horse manure so as to 
keep the flies away from it. In such cases the plan 
should be to use something in the manure which will 
destroy the eggs or young of the flies. Sulphuric 
acid has been suggested for this purpose—sprinkled 
over the manure and stable floor. This would clear 
out many of the flies, but we would not advise 
the use of this dangerous acid on the farm. The 
effect of a small quantity of it in the eye or upon the 
flesh may be disastrous. It bites too hard to be 
safe for farm use. A much better plan is to use 
equal parts of acid phosphate and the German potash 
salt known as kainit. This combination of either of 
the chemicals alone scattered each day in the stable 
gutters and over the manure will kill millions of the 
young flies, and also serve to retain the ammonia 
in the manure. The time to kill the flies is before 
they can fly out of their incubator—horse manure— 
and these chemicals will do the job. 
* 
Ox page 874 you say Mr. Roosevelt's remarks on “The 
Farmer” are “pretty dull.” Well, then, what could you 
say that would be any brighter or more forcible? 
Connecticut. C- E - H. 
We believe our readers would like to have Mr. 
Roosevelt say something like the following. We 
select several topics which are of greatest importance. 
1. If our farmers are the foundation of society 
it follows that the land upon which they live is the 
best foundation for government credit and currency. 
Canadian farmers possess a great advantage over 
our farmers in their ability to obtain public loans 
for drainage purposes. German farmers have the 
advantage of government cooperative credit. If I 
am elected President I will insist that so far as law 
can do it these Canadian and German advantages 
are inaugurated here. 
2. The Post Office Department states that fakers 
and financial promoters robbed the people of $170,- 
000,000 last year. If I am elected President I will 
make life a burden to Congress until they enact a 
Federal law on the plan of the effective “Blue Sky” 
law in Kansas. 
3. Every civilized nation on earth except these 
United States has a fair parcels post service. I will 
call a special session of Congress for the particular 
purpose of passing a law which shall give us such 
service. Should the express parasites prevent the 
passage of such a law 1 will do my best to force 
through the proposition to buy out the express com¬ 
panies and establish a postal express. 
4. The robbery on the part of the middlemen who 
handle and sell the farmer’s product has become a. 
national curse. If the States will not give protec¬ 
tion I will advocate and press with all my energy 
a Federal law for the supervision and control of 
commission dealers somewhat after the present plan 
of supervising banks! 
These are the four great questions in which farm¬ 
ers are most interested—credit, investment security, 
transportation and business protection. The above 
represents the way our farmers want them talked 
about. Up to this time public men have handled 
them as if they were playing lawn tennis with a soft- 
shelled egg. Now comes this new party with a 
tendency to do the same. We want some one to get 
busy, and we realize that both Mr. Taft and Mr. 
Wilson are tied up to the post of party machinery. 
* 
We think we are down to the heart of the senti¬ 
ment among farmers for and against James W. 
Wadsworth, Jr., as a candidate for Governor. He 
has many warm friends, particularly in Western New 
York. These friends regard him as an able and clean 
young man of sturdy character, and with a family and 
position which should make it unnecessary for him 
to play dirty politics or accept graft. His “farm 
platform” is popular, and farmers are grateful that 
he has made a political issue of some of their needs. 
The objection to Mr. Wadsworth is that he is too 
close to the “old gang” of politicians, that he is not 
a progressive and that he is too “liberal” on what 
people call moral issues, such as temperance and 
race track legislation. A very large proportion of 
our country people want another man of the Hughes 
type at Albany. What they demand is a man with 
the solid character of Mr. Hughes, but with warmer 
blood and a larger streak of the fat of human nature. 
That is the type of man they want—where is he to 
be found? Many of our readers have expressed a 
preference for Dr. L. H. Bailey, but he is needed at 
Cornell. Who is the man for the hour? He could 
be elected this year. 
Last week the daily papers came out with a bed¬ 
bug statement which must have disturbed the rest 
of many scientists. We were told that a Government 
experiment station in Virginia would pay five cents 
each for bedbugs, which were to be trained to attack 
and eat scale insects! Here was a new chance for 
some promoter to sell stock in a scheme for breed¬ 
ing bedbugs. You might handle them on a modifica¬ 
tion of the Philo system and produce millions at five 
cents each. But it was a dream, as the following note 
shows: 
It is needless to say that the recent statement in news¬ 
papers in the country, relative to the Department's desire 
to purchase bedbugs at five cents, was entirely unauthor¬ 
ized. The statement has been traced to the unwarranted 
activities of a newspaper reporter, and was quite inex¬ 
cusable. It is true the Department does purchase bedbugs 
locally for testing proprietary insecticides in connection 
with the work of the Insecticide and Fungicide Board. 
The statement that the insects were desired for use in 
controlling orchard pests is, of course, absurd on the face 
Of it. A. L. QUAINTANCE, 
Expert in Charge. 
So all they want of bedbugs is a chance to try 
various “exterminators.” We are not to hope that 
this bug will devote his warm mouth-parts to cracking 
the shell of the San Jose scale or chasing cutworms! 
These “unwarranted activities” of reporters are re¬ 
sponsible for waves of public insanity. Unhappy is 
the man who believes all he sees in the papers. 
* 
The idea which developed into our Country Life 
Commission was originated by Sir Horace Plunkett, 
The work he did in developing and organizing the 
agriculture of Ireland will pass on in history as a 
great achievement. In the Atlantic Monthly Sir Hor¬ 
ace describes what he calls the regeneration of Ire¬ 
land. It was necessary to build the whole thing up 
from the bottom ,and create a national agricultural 
feeling. This meant an agricultural department with 
a large annual endowment—with many years before 
observable results could be shown. Such things must 
be dug out of the English government with a pickax, 
for it has well been said of Parliament: “During the 
past century many noble acts of legislation have been 
passed—but not one of them zvillingly Sir Horace 
Plunkett makes the following point regarding his 
work: * 
I was in the House of Commons for eight years. I en¬ 
tered it mainly with the object of promoting an agricul¬ 
tural policy. I noticed that when an agricultural member 
rose to address the House he usually emptied it. I do 
not think this was because he was a greater fool than 
others, but because the House knew that he spoke for in¬ 
dividuals and not for organized men. I do not know how 
it is in America, hut at home I have observed that, when 
legislation affecting any particular interest is under dis 
cussian, those who speak on behalf of that interest are 
listened to with an attention strictly proportionate to Dis¬ 
organization of those they speak for. Not political or¬ 
ganization, but business organization. 
There you have the whole story. Just so long as 
political leaders believe that farmers are a body of 
unorganized individuals our portion will be taffy and 
guff. When these leaders understand that they can 
speak for an organized body of strong and de¬ 
termined men we shall have a fair hearing—and we 
want no more. Thus organization is the foundation 
of all we hope for. The smaller the organization to 
begin with the better. Very likely you and your 
neighbor have quarreled over politics for years. He 
is in one party and you are in another. The most 
effective combination is for you two men to get 
together on some farm issue and cut out your po¬ 
litical differences. 
BREVITIES. 
Let us put the red-hot poker ou the man who puts the 
“joker” or the little crimp or frill in the legislative bill. 
A Virginia cow is reported as abominably intoxicated 
on fermenting silage. Probably the after effects would be 
ns demoralizing as green apples. 
You see ou page 903 how those Canadian women made 
the town council of Woodstock back down on the chicken 
ordinance. “Who would be free, himself must strike the 
blow.” 
At a local flower show in Surrey, England, an offer of 
two shillings per 100 was made for dead queen wasps. In 
all 3,850 of the insects were collected. Wasps are very 
destructive to fruit in Great Britain. 
How strongly do consumers object to clingstone peaches, 
where they have an opportunity to express preference? 
Some toll us that they never knowingly buy clingstones, 
and .boycott any they suspect, no matter how handsome, 
because they are wasteful, as well as troublesome to pre¬ 
pare, and a nuisance to eat out of hand. 
Readers who carry fire insurance will remember how 
when the policy expires the companies send a new re¬ 
ceipted policy and then collect for it. A new Canadian 
insurance law declares: “Renewal receipts when accepted 
by the insured will mean the acceptance of a renewal 
policy, and the company may sue for the premium, and ou 
the other hand the company will be responsible for fire 
loss, whether the premium is paid or not, if the renewal 
receipt is sent out.” 
