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The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER’S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country anil Suburban Homes 
Established isso 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 4W Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Collixowood, President and Editor. 
Joity J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
IYm. F. Dmtos, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royi.e. Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. $2.01. equal to 8s. 6d., or 
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 BO cents per agate line—7 words. Discount for time orders. 
References required for advertisers unknown to us j and 
cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. Rut 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 suck 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-Yorker 
when writing the advertiser. 
The article on “Renting Orchards” is written by 
an expert. Mr. Pullen does not talk theory; he tells 
what he has done. You will see there is no great 
fortune in the business. It gives a man who knows 
how a chance to realize on a neglected opportunity. 
That is about all there is to it. 
* 
The Long Island potato growers want two things 
in particular investigated. Plow can they use lime to 
increase the clover crop without increasing the scab 
on potatoes? The potato crop is the backbone of 
Long Island farming. The rotation is short, and 
while lime helps clover it also promotes scab. The 
suggestion to use small quantities of ground lime¬ 
stone when seeding to grass and clover is the best we 
have seen. The other problem ,s how to fight the 
small flea beetle. This pest is gaining and is much 
harder to fight than the striped beetle. Bordeaux 
mixture and tobacco extract are the best remedies 
thus far if you can keep them on the foliage. 
* 
Drainage of orchards has become a profitable busi¬ 
ness in parts of New York State. We see on page 296 
that the Baldwin apple in particular cannot stand wet 
feet. This variety must have an open, well-drained 
soil in order to do its best. Many orchards were 
originally planted on heavy soil, the planters not re¬ 
alizing the soil needs of this variety. Spy, Greening 
and some other varieties would have done well on 
this soil; but Baldwin suffered until drainage changed 
the soil’s character. This is one of the important 
things we are learning about fruit. We can safely 
keep ducks on a wet marsh, hut hens need the higher 
ground. Successful orcharding in the future means 
fitting the variety to the soil or fitting the soil for 
the variety. 
* 
Day after day we receive evidence of loss and 
trouble through failure to understand or even read 
a contract. In some-cases such a “contract” is writ¬ 
ten like a letter or like a simple conversation between 
friends. When put to the test it proves to be no 
legal contract at all, and neither party can be held to 
its terms. In other cases it is loosely drawn, without 
any definite understanding. Here is one case: A man 
and his wife agreed to work a farm for a wealthy 
man. Among other provisions it was agreed that the 
wife should cook for the hired men. There was no 
specification as to how many men this meant, and 
during the Summer the owner hired a large gang of 
ditchers and demanded that the woman cook for them 
without extra pay. She was held to it under the con¬ 
tract. There are dozens of such things connected 
with farm contracts, which are often overlooked until 
they make trouble. How foolish merely to glance 
over a contract and sign it at once. Far better sleep 
over it. 
* 
We know an honest man who is in the business 
of collecting accounts. He received a bundle of ac¬ 
counts from a nursery which seems to do business 
with sprouted tree agents. Our friend started out 
to collect, and this is what he reports: 
It would not do for the man who sold the trees 
to try to collect; one party said he would throw him 
in the river if he ever made his appearance again — 
and there you are. 
There you are, indeed! What a business it must 
be when the man who takes the order does not dare 
go back to collect! The seller gets 25 per cent, the 
collector earns another 25 per cent, and a fair pro¬ 
portion of the orders are never paid. Who in the 
world pays the expenses of such a trade? Why, the 
farmer who gives the order and signs the contract. 
He is expected to pay a price so high that it will 
fill all these middlemen and leave a profit for the 
nurseryman. There may be those who enjoy buying 
in this way. What benevolent characters they are! 
THE RURAE NEW-VOPIKER 
I wish to tell you that The R. N.-Y. has helped us 
greatly in all our undertakings. My first question to any 
one who starts to talk farm is this: ‘‘Do you read The 
Rural New-Yorker?” If he says “Yes," I can talk to him 
like a brother; if he replies in the negative, 1 send him 
a 10-weeks’ subscription. You can always see my It. N.-Y. 
projecting from my coat pocket when on my way to busi¬ 
ness. Good luck to yon, keep up the good work, and 
let us all try and find out where most of that dollar bill 
goes to. H. M. E. 
The R. N.-Y. has thousands of friends as warm¬ 
hearted as this one—hut not all of them have the 
knack of expression which makes the above a classic. 
The greatest pleasure in making and publishing a 
paper like The R. N.-Y. comes from feeling that we 
have sound and true friends who believe in us and 
who will, if need be, go out of their way to do us a 
friendly service. “I can talk to him like a brother” 
It is a fine thing to feel that our readers are held 
together in that way. * * 
Parcel post is proving itself faster than we ex¬ 
pected. There were 40,000.000 packages shipped under 
this post in January. The Postmaster General has 
already recommended an increase in the weight limit 
and lower rates in some cases. Now the final out¬ 
come of all this will probably be the elimination of 
the express companies. They will go about as the 
old stage coaches disappeared as the result of rail¬ 
road competition. These companies have made this 
outcome probabie through their own selfish and ex¬ 
tortionate treatment of the public. We have been 
trying to tell you for years that the passage of a 
parcel post hill meant far more for the people than 
the mere ability to mail packages cheaply. Its final 
effect will be startling and all in the interest of the 
people. We can now see why the transportation in¬ 
terests fought this bill so long. By the way, if we 
were the new President, Congressman Lewis of Mary¬ 
land would he the next Postmaster General. 
* 
WILL YOU SPEND SIX CENTS? 
We are talking now particularly to residents of 
New York. People have been good enough to say 
that through exposure of crooks and fakes we have 
saved investors millions of dollars. We hope this is 
true—now we come asking the expenditure of six 
cents in order to save millions of dollars more. This 
money is to be saved through the Commission House 
bill now before the Legislature at Albany. If that 
can be made a law the commission men will be 
obliged to play fair and give the shipper a chance to 
know where his goods go to and how much they 
bring. This hill will afford sure and needed protec¬ 
tion, and it should he supported by every producer 
and every consumer in the State. You may say that 
if this is so the thing is settled and you are not 
needed. You are wrong. Both you and your six 
cents must come out into action. The situation is 
peculiar. A majority or nearly so of the members 
of the Legislature come from New York and other 
large cities. The commission men have plenty of 
money, and with their strong organization are bring¬ 
ing pressure to bear upon these city members of the 
Legislature. Naturally these city members do not 
come into close relation with farmers and country 
people, while they are close to the commission men. 
The country voters can reach and influence every 
member who has a farm in his district. They must 
give them no rest, day or night, until they agree to 
vote for this hill. That is bringing direct pressure 
upon the Legislature, but our people must do more— 
bring indirect pressure upon the city members. This 
is where you and your six cents get into the game. 
The present administration knows that it did not ride 
into power in an automobile. It was hoed into Al¬ 
bany. The hands that dropped the votes which gave 
this administration power are those which milk cows 
and hold the plow handles. These same hands have 
the power to take the administration by the neck and 
throw it out. And that is just what these big hands 
will do if the interests they represent are not fairly 
treated. This commission man bill is part of the fair 
treatment which farmers demand. Now we want you 
and your six cents to make this point clear—by writ¬ 
ing a strong letter to each of the following: 
Hon. Wm. Sulzer, Albany, N. Y.; Hon. A. J. Smith, 
Albany, N. Y.; Hon. Robt. F. Wagner, Albany, N. Y. 
Mr. Sulzer is Governor of New York. Mr. Smith 
leader of the Assembly, and Mr. Wagner president 
of the Senate. They all have their ambitions, and 
they are like a political thermometer to show 
whether popular feeling grows hot or cold. Write 
to each of these men the strongest letter you can 
think out and get these letters off at once. Make it 
clear to them that this principle of regulating com¬ 
mission sales is what farmers stand for. Do not 
say “Others will do this,” but take-your, pen in hand 
now and write these letters. Spend six cents-r-ii will 
be the best political contribution you ever made. 
March 1, 
The problem of spraying grows harder as the fruit 
orchards increase in size. How many trees can a 
power sprayer take care of? Yon see that in order 
to answer such a question we must consider the wind, 
the weather, the water supply and several other con¬ 
siderations. If a man could spray for the Codling 
moth as he would dig a ditch the tiling would be 
easy, hut we all know better. We have known a 
rain or a gale of wind to start just when the trees 
were exactly ready for the poison, so that it was 
impossible to do a full job, or cover the entire or¬ 
chard. Time and the Codling worm wait for no 
man, and we must get ready for the business of 
spraying or get left. When the new plantings come 
into bearing the wormy and scabby apple can hardly 
be given away. It is doubtful if a good power 
sprayer can do more than care properly for 500 good 
trees. The fact is, then, in the future, if we expect 
to have a chance at the market, we must have spray¬ 
ing power enough to do the work right on time. 
* 
In their battle against the commission man bill at 
Albany the commission merchants seem to be playing 
every trick of the trade. Here is a sample of it. 
J. H. Hale, the well-known fruit grower, has sent 
the following letter to Senator Roosevelt, who has 
charge of the bill in the Senate: 
In “The Fruitman’s Guide," issue of February 15th in 
their report of the hearing before your Committee on the 
Roosevelt-Colc Bill for the regulation of Commission 
Merchants I find this statement: 
“After the round of cheers greeting Ex-Senator Travis’ 
fiery speech had died away, Mr. Travis Introduced a pro¬ 
test from J. II. Ilale, of Glastonbury, Conn., and Fort 
Valley, Georgia, that the hill be allowed to apply to goods 
shipped from outside the State.” 
As I never authorized this statement in any manner or 
form, and cannot understand how Mr. Travis or anyone 
else could have assumed authority to speak for me, I 
wish you would have transcribed your stenographer’s notes 
of this part of the testimony, if such testimony really ap¬ 
peared in the record, and greatly oblige. 
Yours very truly, 
J. H. hale. 
That “fiery speech” was largely fireworks of the 
popgun variety, and most of the guns kicked back, as 
this effort to put Mr. Hale on record has done. The 
commission merchants must he hard up for argu¬ 
ments to take such chances and then have the trap 
spring on them. 
* 
Tun production of apples will increase immensely the 
next few years, not only on the Pacific coast, hut also 
between the Missouri River and the Atlantic coast. With 
western box apples selling in many markets at $1 per 
box now, with a production of 25,000 cars, what will they 
do when they produce 50,000 or 75,000 cars, as they say 
they will in a few more years? I believe that in the 
next five years we will witness a struggle for supremacy 
between the West and the East, a period of low prices, 
and a shaking out of all those who cannot produce and 
market cheaply. 
That is the opinion of an apple grower in the Cen¬ 
tral West, midway between the two oceans. Without 
question the future problem of disposing of the im¬ 
mense apple crop of a favorable season will be a 
hard one. The fancy trade will always be limited, 
but there is practically no limit to a trade which will 
pay about one dollar a bushel for sound, medium¬ 
sized fruit. The working people of our cities and 
towns have never been fully supplied with fruit. 
Most of our experts and teachers have advocated 
growing and selling the highest class apples. The 
market for this kind of fruit has been well developed, 
hut little effort lias been made in developing the “dol- 
lar-bushel” trade, which is, after all, to be the great 
future outlet for our apple crops. There are people 
enough in the country to eat every apple we can pro¬ 
duce, hut we must educate and train them first and 
get the price down to the level of their pocket book. 
BREVITIES. 
Better begin to put the farm team at the training table 
to fit them for the Spring work. Feed them well. 
About the worst discord we know of comes from the 
“song brokers” who offer to set poems to music. Let 
them alone. 
From the way it worked this year we think well of 
the plan of sowing barley and rye together in August. 
The barley made a good Fall growth and has given pro 
tc-etion to the rye. 
The Wisconsin Legislature is considering a bill to create 
on industrial commission which is to gather and publish 
the names of persons who would like to buy direct of 
farmers, cheese factories or creameries. 
There is an English Society for the Suppression of cruel 
Steel Traps which offers a prize of £50 for a trap which 
will humanely catch or kill rabbits. This society is trying 
to suppress the traps ordinarily used on account of the 
unnecessary suffering caused by them. 
Is continued irrigation a cause of soil deterioration? 
This is a very important subject now under government 
investigation. It is said that there Is danger not only 
in alkali that is washed into other lands, but also in 
what experts term the “wearing out” of the saturation. 
