1228 
THE) RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
December 7, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A .National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban IIomCB 
Established iSCO 
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. Dilion. Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. 82.04, equal to 8s. 6d., or 
8><j marks, or 10*4 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 us ; and 
cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon* 
Bible person. But to make doubly sure we will make gooo 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 or the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the tune of 
the transaction, and yon must have mentioned The Rural New-Yorker 
when writing the advertiser. 
The coming legislative session in New York prom¬ 
ises to be a record-breaker in efforts to win popular 
support. As you know, we have for years urged a 
State law regulating the commission business. This 
has failed to pass the last two Legislatures, but 
stronger efforts than ever before will be made next 
year. A strong bill has been drafted, and will be 
backed by men of character and experience. The 
thing is surely nearer than ever before. 
* 
That is a significant picture on the first page. 
The gasoline farm team, after doing the work of 12 
horses, is ready to walk off to market with part of 
the hay which these horses would have eaten this 
Winter! Mr. Bush gives a fair statement of the 
real value of a farm tractor. It would be easy to 
exaggerate the importance of such a machine or to 
criticize it unfairly. The truth is that we are coming 
to a time when such tractors must have a fair place 
in farming. No man should think of trying one until 
he has studied his problem all through and knows just 
what he is doing. You cannot afford to play or ex¬ 
periment with them. 
* 
Last week we nailed down the statement of the 
New York “Times” that our insane asylums are 
crowded by patients from the farm. Perhaps we used 
rather small nails at that time. Now let us drive in a 
spike and clinch it. The latest printed record covers 
the year ending September 30, 1910. During that year 
5,482 patients were sent to the New York asylums. 
These were divided as follows: City, 4,292; village, 
753; rural, 437. Thus the farms “crowded” the asy¬ 
lums by sending less than nine per cent. Out of 575 
alcoholic patients 33, or less than six per cent, came 
from the farm. If this does not spike the right label 
to the back of the New York “Times” we will try 
again. 
* 
A number of our readers ask where they can write 
Governor Wilson so as to be sure to reach him per¬ 
sonally. They claim to have advice to offer him. 
We also have a little advice to offer, and that is to 
let Mr. Wilson alone. He has more to do now than 
he ought to do. He can get cart loads of advice 
without any trouble, and in the tremendous work 
ahead of him he needs rest rather than advice. We 
have also received a few letters from people who 
want an office and ask if we can help them. Sorry, 
gentlemen, but we can be of no service to you. We 
want no job ourselves, and do not know that we 
have any influence with the new administration. We 
never got closer than 50 feet of Mr. Wilson, and 
would not, under any circumstances, ask any personal 
favors of him. Why not let him alone to prepare for 
the gigantic work ahead of him? 
* 
A curious proposition has been put up to us during 
the past few weeks regarding the cultures used for 
inoculating crops. A farmer bought a quantity of the 
bacteria supposed to be needed by Soy beans. This 
was used on about half his seed, the other half being 
left without inoculation as an experiment. This 
farmer felt so sure of the results to be obtained from 
using the cultures that he let a neighbor have some of 
the treated seed to try. The result was that the un¬ 
treated seed gave a healthy crop of good size, while 
wherever the cultures were used a disease appeared 
which dwarfed or ruined the crop. The case was ex¬ 
actly the same with the neighbor—where the treated 
seed was used the bean disease appeared, while the rest 
of the crop was clean. There is apparently no question 
about these facts, and these farmers believe that in 
some way the disease was introduced through that 
“culture.” This is a serious matter, and should be 
investigated. It was, of course, too late to examine 
the culture, but samples of the bean vines were sent 
to several experiment stations for examination. In 
one case the scientist thought the damage done by 
an insect; in others it was the opinion that a true 
bean disease was present. We believe there was no 
question about that, and that it was practically con¬ 
fined to the crop from the treated seed. It therefore 
comes down to • this—would it be possible for the 
germs of a plant disease to be found in these cul¬ 
tures? The scientists say this is quite possible, though 
not likely with careful preparation. These disease 
germs might be on the vessels used in the laboratory. 
Again, these cultures might be hurriedly prepared by 
crushing the roots or nodules of the bean and using 
this for propagating the bacteria. In such case a 
diseased plant might be used by mistake and the dis¬ 
ease germs would develop with the others. Some of 
the bacteriologists tell us that they have found molds 
and other germs in some of the cultures. It is too 
serious a matter to dismiss lightly or to judge from 
the evidence of this case alone. It is evidently possible 
to convey these disease germs in these cultures, but 
not at all likely to find them when the cultures are 
prepared in a standard laboratory. At any rate, this 
experience convinces us that these cultures should be 
examined by the bacteriologists as carefully as clover 
seed is examined for dodder. 
* 
We have a letter from Mr. Herbert Myrick, presi¬ 
dent, editor-in-chief, etc., asking us to write Congress¬ 
men and Senators. Mr. Myrick wants to repeal what 
he calls “two iniquitous riders” of the postal bill, 
which, according to our friend: 
1. Require you semi-annually to publish the private de¬ 
tails of your business. 
2. Subject every newspaper and periodical to the danger 
of being thrown out of the mails at any minute, by vio¬ 
lating the unconconstitutional, un-American, mischievous 
and autocratic rider which requires you to mark as “adver¬ 
tisement” certain editorial or reading matter under penalty 
of $50 to $500 fine. 
With all the respect to which Mr. Myrick’s services 
to agriculture entitle him, we are unable to accom¬ 
modate. We feel more like urging our Congressmen 
to see that these “riders” have a good saddle. We 
were willing to publish the simple statement regarding 
ownership which the law requires, and have done so 
without protest or attempted concealment. The law 
requires that when any matter in a paper is paid for 
it must be plainly marked as an advertisement—dis¬ 
tinct from purely editorial opinion. This is an ex¬ 
cellent provision—a benefit to the reader, and should 
have been enforced long ago. Why is it “mischiev¬ 
ous” to ask or to compel a journalist to give his read¬ 
ers a square deal? If Mr. Myrick will ask us to do 
so we will point*out to him column after column of so- 
called editorial matter which this “iniquitous rider” 
would cut out of the herd. It was printed as dis¬ 
interested advice or personal opinion, when in fact 
it was bought and paid for by interested parties. The 
price was accepted as the meanest sort of graft—the 
meanest because it meant a sale of the confidence which 
readers may have had in that poor, shabby thing 
which stood for the editor’s conscience! The man 
who will sell such confidence has no more right to 
the free use of the mail than the scamp who sells 
dishonest drugs or wild-cat stocks, which he knows 
are bogus. For years it has been well known that 
with all our faults and limitations there is not enough 
money in the U. S. Treasury to buy one line of edi¬ 
torial opinion in The R. N.-Y. This “iniquitous 
rider” suits us very well, and we hppe it will put the 
spurs deep into the sides of every paper which tries to 
sneak advertisements through in disguise. 
* 
The game law case described on page 1220 is the 
limit! Mr. L. B. Edgerton, of Fort Ann, has been 
held up and forced to pay $ 11 —compelled to do so 
by an unjust and foolish interpretation of the con¬ 
servation law. A skunk entered Mr. Edgerton’s 
chicken yard and the dog killed it. If there were any 
way of making the dog work out his fine we have no 
doubt the great State of New York would arrest him 
for defending his master’s property. The skunk was 
caught in the act of trespass and rightly killed. Mr. 
Edgerton took off the hide and kept it, and for doing 
this is fined $11! The conservation law is based upon 
the following proposition: 
Sec. 175.— Ownership. The ownership of and the 
title to all fish, birds and qnadupeds in the State of t 
New York, not held by private ownership, legally ac¬ 
quired, is hereby declared to be in the State. 
Under that theory the State lays claim to owner¬ 
ship of that skunk and its skin. To be sure, the sec¬ 
tion of the law quoted on page 1220 states that skunks 
may be killed while injuring property or when they 
become a nuisance. The skunk in question was a 
nuisance and was on its way to destroy property. 
No doubt the State would claim that the skunk had 
come to keep thieves away from the chicken house! 
It is -a pity that Connecticut farmer who lost the 60 
pullets could not have had this skunk and his family 
on hand when those brave New York soldiers robbed 
his henroost. Will not the “game protectors” send a 
few skunks down under the comfortable perch of the 
“Major General commanding National Guard” and 
wake him up to his duty? This whole business is a 
wicked farce. We give our farmers fair warning 
that if these “conservation laws” are not changed, the 
“sports” and the “protectors” will have the few re¬ 
maining game rights which are now left to us. 
* 
This “Luther Burbank Society” seems to be quite 
worthy of its name. Practically every mail brings us 
letters like the following: 
Kindly tell me what your real opinion is of this “Luther 
Burbank Society”? My old neighbor, a man in good 
financial standing, gets the enclosed invitation, and as 
he is not much of an horticulturist, although a flower 
lover, and the membership is limited to 100. I wonder 
why he was selected to get all these benefits for his $151. 
He asked me about this point. Is it because he has 
money and is otherwise “easy”? t. g. 
Our opinion is expressed on page 1218. We should 
only make it stronger if we tried it again. We think 
this society would like to enjoy the society of your 
friend’s $151. We doubt if it has any other use for 
him. It looks to us like a fine chance to become a 
life member of a high-toned sucker’s association. 
* 
Here and there throughout the Eastern States are 
to be found villages which contain one or more pros¬ 
perous factories. They are usually located at some 
water-power—financed and conducted by local capital 
and brains. They usually manufacture some article 
which requires skilled labor, and this is supplied from 
the village or surrounding farms. Thus the money 
paid out for labor is kept at home. It goes to buy 
farms, or household necessities or village homes or 
for other local investments. The difference between 
such a community and one where most of the money 
is sent away is remarkable. There is nothing which 
adds so much to the self-respect and happiness of 
any section as the feeling that a good share of the 
consumer’s dollar gets back home to the producer. 
The 35-cent dollar simply makes men desperate at 
the injustice of modern business. These little local 
factory towns show us what would happen if more 
of the manufacturers could break away from the 
congested centers of population and go back to the 
water-powers among the hills. They could obtain 
cheaper rent and greater freedom and the country 
would be far better off for such scattering of labor 
and payment of wages. 
* 
Since this discussion of farm credits started we 
have had a number of letters from city men who 
insist that farmers can even now borrow all the 
money they need if they have any fair security. They 
say that millions of money are waiting for five per 
cent, investments. Here is an analysis of such a loan 
—a typical case: 
LOAN*OF $1,000 FOK FIVE YEARS AX 6% PER ANNUM. 
Commission, 5 per cent.$50.00 
Abstract . 30.00 
Total .$80.00 
Amount of loan.$1,000.00 
Deduct commission and abstract.. 80.00 
Net amount. $920.00 
Six per cent, on $1,000.$60.00 
Yearly cost of abstract and commission.... 16.00 
Total amount of interest.$76.00 
Seventy-six dollars yearly is at the rate of 8.2 
per cent, on $920, the net amount of the loan. 
In this case the borrower pays 8.2 per cent on the 
money which he actually received. We know of cases 
where a loan was made on first mortgage and a care¬ 
ful “search” was made. Later a small second mort¬ 
gage was added and another $25 charged for the 
same “search.” As part of this farm credit we would 
like the actual records of such loans to farmers. 
Will you tell us just what it costs to obtain them, 
and under what conditions they are made? 
BREVITIES. 
Improved blood with unimproved care will grow pretty 
thin. 
If by any chance the robber hens are left alive—eat 
them ! 
It’s an old story—telling the age of a hen by the 
teeth. The older the tougher. 
Mr. Carnegie offers a pension of $25,000 per year to 
ex-Presidents and their widows! Well, very few of us 
need make any plans to spend the money. 
Here is Dr. E. A. Steiner claiming that 1,000 immi¬ 
grants able to handle pick and shovel are more valuable 
to America than an equal number of university graduates. 
We are to have before long the description of a storage 
house in Maine in which apples and potatoes are kept 
through the Winter and ice in Summer. That equals the 
practice of growing corn on a meadow and then flooding 
it to make an ice pond for storing ice in WiDter. 
1 
