1122 
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 Publishing Company, 409 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Roylf., Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, 82.01, equal to 8s. 6<L, or 
8U marks, or 10 'A francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or hank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates 00 cents per agate line—7 words. Discount for time orders. 
References required for advertisers unknown to ns j and 
cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is hacked 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 be 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 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-Yorkee 
when writing the advertiser. 
The meeting of the Northern Nut Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation will be held at Lancaster, Pa., on December 
18-19. This is an important meeting—right in a sec¬ 
tion where in former years the chestnut crop was a 
most important one. Now, the blight or chestnut 
disease is destroying the chestnuts all over the East. 
Some of the ablest scientific men in the country are 
members of this association. They recognize the great 
future for the nut industry. Without question a large 
proportion of the meat of the future will be grown 
on trees. More and more people will be driven to 
seek meat substitutes, and there are none better than 
nuts. This meeting ought to have a very large local 
attendance. There are some hard nuts to crack. The 
more people, the more power. 
* 
On January 1 operations will begin under the Bourne 
parcels post bill. As we have stated before, this bill 
authorizes a system of zones, the postage regulated 
by the distance. A vast amount of work is needed to 
start this system, for every detail from printing new 
stamps to arranging methods of packing must all be 
worked out. There is some criticism because a low 
flat rate of postage was not substituted for the zone 
system. Our advice is to drop criticism for the pres¬ 
ent, and endeavor to make what we have a success. 
We can show by the use we make of the Bourne bill 
that a parcels post is an absolute necessity. 1 hen, as 
use determines any further need, we can work for a 
flat rate or whatever should be given to make the 
system what we want. As soon as possible we shall 
print the regulations. We hope that all our people 
will use this parcels post and do their best to make it 
a success. 
* 
For the last time before the election we suggest 
that New York State farmers, irrespective of party, 
vote for Clark Allis for Lieutenant-Governor. The 
R. N.-Y. has gained some reputation for persistence, 
and we stick to this proposition because we believe in 
it. A large vote for Mr. Allis will show as nothing 
else will that our fanners appreciate the chance to 
vote for a man of their own class. As we have 
pointed out already, Mr. Allis is the only man on 
any of the State tickets who gives opportunity for 
this distinctive vote. The peculiar circumstances now 
existing 'will make it clear that a large vote for Mr. 
Allis can have but one meaning—and that is a direct 
expression from farmers. Such an expression will 
be of great help next Winter when the Legislature 
meets. We make no effort to tell any man how he 
ought to vote, for our readers are intelligent enough 
to know where their interests lie. 
Since the article on “Sprouted Tree Agents,” page 
1114, was put in type we have received some further 
information. It appears that the Rice Brothers C©m- 
pany now repudiate this tree agent (Schaffer) and 
promise to cancel orders or reduce the price on his 
“sprouted” orders. It is reported that this same 
Schaffer some years ago sold trees for Knight & 
Bostwick with the foolish and lying claim that they 
were budded on oak roots and therefore “borer proof.” 
It is related that Knight & Bostwick refused to can¬ 
cel these “sprouted” orders until they were brought 
face to face with publicity. Now Schaffer claims he 
was told that the orders were delivered and payment 
collected. This is nice business—a fair sample of the 
falsehood that is used by some tree agents to get rid 
of their stock. We shall take it as a favor if any 
readers will put us on the track of any tree agent 
resorting to such tricks. Where people are induced to 
sign orders through such fool stories we believe they 
have good reason for cancelling orders, for this is gross 
misrepresentation. We will willingly give agents and 
firms practicing this* low-down business a little free 
advertising. 
1?HE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
Whoever saw so many mixups and political sur¬ 
prises as are coming this year ? Our old friend Grant 
Hitchings is a candidate for the Assembly in the 
Second district of Onondaga County. Mr. Hitchings 
is the “mulch culture” man who has made a remark¬ 
able success at growing apples. \\ hat we have always 
admired in Grant Hitchings is the way he stood by 
his mulching proposition when it was an untried and 
unpopular thing. 'Hitchings felt that he was right 
and he stayed right by his plan in spite of ridicule 
or argument—stayed by it until success came. Now, 
that is the sort of bulldog determination that we want 
at Albany. We would like to see someone try the 
mulch system on some of the grafters who flock to 
the capital each Winter. The next session of the 
New York Legislature will be an eventful one. No 
matter which party controls it, the majority of the 
members will realize that a new day has dawned and 
that the old game has been played to an end. We 
need a few human bulldogs like Grant Hitchings to 
stay by the new system which is to come. 
* 
Last week we printed a letter recently sent to the 
Presidential candidates with replies from the repre¬ 
sentatives of Gov. Wilson and Col. Roosevelt. We 
have now received the following: 
I have to acknowledge the receipt, by reference from 
the White House, of your letter of the 7th instant. 
The question which you place before the President 
with reference to his willingness to advocate the extension 
of adequate credit facilities to the farmers of this country 
is answered by the letter recently sent by the President 
to the Governors of the States, inviting them to a con¬ 
ference in Washington on this subject. I take pleasure 
in enclosing to you a copy of that letter, together with, 
a copy of the report of Ambassador Myron T. Herrick, 
upon which report the letter of the President is very 
largely based. s - L - b rown > 
Chief, Division of Information. 
In this letter and report the German system of 
agricultural banks is recommended for a trial in this 
country. Of course, none of the candidates answers 
the question regarding powers of our present National 
banks, but there is no longer any doubt about the fact 
that all parties recognize the need of better agricul¬ 
tural credits. 
* 
The seed and nursery agents are, as a rule, quite 
capable of inventing stories about their wonderful 
seeds and plants. We cannot hope to match them at 
their game, but here is a suggestion. One man told 
a fine story of grafting oats on Alfalfa! He claimed 
this gave an oat plant with a tap root so that it could 
not suffer from drought. He was obliged to admit, 
however, that such oats had to be seeded every year. 
What farmers want is an oat which will keep on 
growing year after year, springing up like grass and 
yielding a large crop. Here ought to be the chance 
for the seed “expert.” What would you call the most 
persistent thing that grows? We vote for crab or 
witch grass. There you have it. Make a double 
graft of this tap-rooted oat on witch grass. Then 
all you have to do is seed the oats once. As fast 
as you cut them the witch grass “blood will send up 
a new crop. They will also spiead undergiodnd all 
over your farm and you will have nothing to do but 
cut and thrash. The hot air of some of these 
agents will keep the new “variety” going through the 
Winter and grow two or three oat crops a year. This 
is just as sensible as some of the agents’ stories. 
As they get money for stories rather than seed they 
will value the suggestion. 
* 
There is to be a corn show at Windsor, Vt., on 
November 6-7, which will be remarkable in many 
ways. It will be organized by the Y. M. C. A. of 
Windsor County. This idea of connecting the pro¬ 
duction of good corn with true Christian work is 
a fine one. When you come to think of it, if things 
could be so arranged and encouraged that the Chris¬ 
tian people of any rural community would be ad¬ 
mitted to be the best farmers, the problem of the 
rural church would be settled. It will probably have 
to be settled in some such way ultimately. This 
corn show helps along the way. Another thing is the 
fact that Vermont has great undiscovered possibilities 
in its corn crop. In that northern latitude certain 
local flint varieties or strains of well-known varieties 
give remarkable yields, while other varieties would 
be killed by the frost. The work of discovering 
these local strains and developing them is one of the 
most important things now thought of in connection 
with Vermont farming. The growing of these im¬ 
proved corn varieties will mean a saving of millions 
in feed bills, for of all the grain known to man 
nothing can exceed in yield these flints for growing on 
the rougher Vermont farms. Thus this corn show 
really means more for the future of a section than 
any other to be held this year. 
November 2, 
I live in a village of about 1,800 inhabitants. It is 
surrounded by farms; the Champlain Canal runs through 
it. The Boston & Maine Railroad has a depot in it. 
Canal boats are loaded with potatoes, yet it is a matter 
of great difficulty to buy two or three barrels of potatoes 
or apples to put in the cellar, except from the grocer. 
Your “Hope Farm Notes” amuse me because they advo¬ 
cate city markets altogether, and show a willingness that 
people who live in country villages shall go to the city 
to get farm supplies. About five years ago I wrote to 
a Grange located about four miles from here, told them 
my wants, and never received an answer of any kind. 
There are people who buy farm produce who do not live 
in the city. How shall they be supplied? M. H. D. 
New York. 
The Hope Farm man describes the conditions which 
exist in northern New Jersey. There it is a common 
thing for town families to buy their Winter supplies 
direct from farmers. Our own crop could be sold 
three times over by ’phone, or through an advertise¬ 
ment in the local paper, or even by a blackboard on 
the road in front of the farm. In this way we often 
receive twice as much as commission men or buyers 
would pay. The farmers in the locality which M. II. D. 
mentions are throwing away a great privilege. Some 
Grange or a company of a few good farmers might 
combine, advertise in some way, pack their goods 
fairly and handle all they could produce at twice what 
the shippers pay them. This is one of the most im¬ 
portant things in the campaign for better markets and 
a fairer share of the consumer’s dollar. We must 
take care of our smaller markets first. That leaves 
less of a surplus to send here and help fill up the 
market. The home market first of all. It is easier to 
develop direct trade there. 
A number of our readers ask about the law for 
posting farm property as protection against hunters 
and sports in New York State. Section 361 of the 
Conservation Law states that “notices or sign boards 
not less than one foot square warning all persons 
against hunting or fishing or trespassing” arc to be 
used. Section 362 is as follows: 
§362. Protection of private lands not parks. An 
owner or person having the exclusive right to bunt or 
fish upon inclosed or cultivated lands, or to take fish in a 
pond or stream and desiring to protect the same, shall 
maintain such notices or signboards, as are described in 
the preceding section, upon every twenty-five acres of the 
premises sought to be protected upon or near the lot lines 
thereof, and one sign at each corner thereof, or if waters 
only, upon or near the shores thereof in at least two 
conspicuous places, or may personally serve a written 
notice in the name of such owner or person containing a 
brief description of the premises warning all persons 
against hunting or fishing or trespassing thereon for that 
purpose. 
If there is any doubt as to what is a legal.notice 
a farmer may apply to the Conservation Commission 
at Albany and obtain 10 printed notices for one dol¬ 
lar. The law states that any person who injures, de¬ 
faces or removes a notice or signboard is guilty of 
a misdemeanor and liable to a penalty of $25. A 
violation of the law—that is, trespass on posted land, 
subjects the trespasser to exemplary damages of $25 
for each offense, with costs of suit. The law, as far 
as it goes, thus offers protection in this posting of 
lands, but experience shows that the individual farmer 
has trouble to enforce the law against “sports.” The 
farmers of a neighborhood should combine, all post 
their land, and stand together like an army when the 
pot-hunters appear. As we read the entire law it 
seems evident that the sports are slowly changing it 
so as to take away practically all the rights a farmer 
now has to protect his land. There must be a battle 
over it this Winter at Albany. First of all post your 
land and get together for local defense. 
BREVITIES. 
Better get the husking done early. 
Time to discharge the barn boarders. 
We cut our Fall seeded barley October 21—a light crop. 
A cough in October makes Winter look sober—start 
the fires. 
Do not “husk corn” election day. Go and vote just 
the way you feel. 
Herb is where so many people fall down in the hen 
business. They will not feed well while the hens are 
“dry.” 
At the Utah Agricultural College is was estimated that 
a woman traveled 125 miles inside her kitchen in getting 
the meals for one year. 
One of our readers tells of listening to a speaker who 
talked “two hours to tell what he might have said in 15 
minutes !” There are others! 
The sand and gravel crop of this country was worth 
$21,158,583 last year. There were 66,846,959 tons sold for 
building and glass making. Plenty more on the face of 
the earth. 
According to the Department of Agriculture, the total 
consumption of peanuts used in the manufacture of peanut 
butter during. 1911 amounted ..to 1,000 carloads of, shelled 
nuts, or 1,000,000 bushels. One manufacturer used over 
130 cars of shelled nuts to make 6.000,000 small jars of 
the butter. 
