SOS 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home* * 
Established 1850 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, *09 Pearl St., New York 
Herbert W. Coi.t.inowood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. P. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries In the Universal Postal Union, $2.01, equal to 8s. 6d- f or 
marks, or 10J^ francs. Remit In money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates (50 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 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 sw indler 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 bo 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us w ithin one month of the time of 
the transaction, and you must have mentioned The Rural New-Yorker 
when writing the advertiser. 
The Rochester papers state that if the price of milk 
is raised one cent per quart the district attorney will 
submit the matter to the grand jury. A good state¬ 
ment of the consumer’s case is printed on page 521. 
Evidently these producers are not very much fright¬ 
ened. Probably this attorney thinks he can com¬ 
pel men to sell their milk for less than it costs to 
produce. 
* 
The 35-cent dollar! 
As the father of this phrase we think we know 
something about our own child. We know it is real. 
People come forward now and then to claim there is 
no such thing—that farmers average more than half 
of what their goods finally sell for. Some even say 
farmers get more than they need or deserve. Well 
gentlemen, we stand by the family, and there is no 
guff about “35-cent dollars.” Of course there are 
cases where individual farmers or associations get a 
larger proportion. We do in our own sales. We 
challenge anyone, however, to show that on the aver¬ 
age where goods are sold by other hands producers 
average more than the 35 cents. Do we not need 
more “research” work to learn just where the 65 
cents goes to? 
* 
There are seven bills before the New York Legis¬ 
lature providing for game farms and calling for about 
$150,000. The State now owns many acres of idle 
land located in many counties. Why not use it in¬ 
stead of paying all this money for new land? Do we 
need any more of these game farms anywhere? The 
present farm at Sherburne has been sending pheas¬ 
ants all over the State for the past few years. We 
have complaints by the dozen that this pheasant is 
a nuisance in its destruction of crops. No doubt 
these birds destroy insects, but we also know that 
they destroy crops, and should they be rapidly spread 
all over the State they will become a pest. Why not 
enforce the laws to protect our native birds and let 
game farms rest? 
* 
Notice how the farmers in those counties of North¬ 
ern Ohio are organizing? Starting in a very humble 
way that Holstein cattle breeders’ association has 
become known the world over. Now Portage Co. is 
organizing as no other county in the Union has done. 
All this means wonderful things for Ohio. Anything 
that will bind farmers together in strong and honest 
cooperation makes the foundation of society more 
solid. In all these things we find the same story 
worked out. A few strong men go ahead, form the 
organization and stick to it through thick and thin. 
A few wealthy men give freely of their time and 
money, and give it in such a quiet way that no one 
can accuse them of trying to take advantage of the 
others. These elements have helped make Ohio co¬ 
operation successful. 
* 
The commission men very kindly announce in the 
daily papers that the New York commission man’s 
bill is now “satisfactory.” The 365,000 farmers in 
New York ought to extend a vote of thanks to Mr. 
Travis and his commission friends for this very 
generous treatment. Of course the wishes of 3,000 
commission men must be counted ahead of anything 
else. If a farmer wants to set a trap near his hen¬ 
house has the fox no rights? What would you think 
if the fox insisted that the trap must have no spring 
and no teeth before it was “satisfactory”? What 
would you think if some of your neighbors agreed 
with the fox? It may be necessary for us later to 
give the full inside history of this commission man’s 
bill. It will involve a curious combination of party 
politics, “cold feet” and various other things which 
you may name to suit yourself. One thing is sure, 
there would have been no bill at all if our readers 
had not read the riot act. You may be sure of that. 
When the thing is over we will give the facts. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKE8 
These “laying contests” are giving a class of poul¬ 
try fakers a great chance to bluff the public. They 
put up wonderful stories of egg records, and it is 
usually impossible to get at the truth. Breeders of 
cattle do not expect the public to take their unsup¬ 
ported word as to the amount of milk or butter fat 
that a given cow has produced within a specified 
time; but when they have heifers or cows that they 
wish to test for records, they make arrangements 
for official supervision and certification;, the records 
are then accepted without question. There seem to 
be an increasing number of poultrymen, however, 
who apparently expect that any claims they may see 
fit to make will be accepted at their face value, though 
entirely unsupported by evidence or proof. Whether 
the reputation of poultrymen for absolute honor and 
integrity has been such in the past as to justify the 
public in this, may be a question subject to difference 
of opinion; but it is certainly to be feared that some 
unscrupulous poultrymen are now taking advantage 
of the present interest in competitive records to ask 
high prices for eggs and stock from so-called trap- 
nested flocks when the records which they claim 
have never been made. Since official supervision of 
private poultry plants is practically impossible, the 
value of such claims must rest solely upon the 
breeder’s reputation for integrity, and the prospective 
investor must decide for himself whether he can 
afford to pay the prices asked without further evi¬ 
dence of actual performance than is submitted in the 
literature of the advertiser. 
* 
Ex-Senator E. M. Travis has made a concession 
and a confession. He now concedes that the produce 
commission merchants need regulation and control 
by the State. He concedes that they ought to be 
licensed and bonded, and that they should be com¬ 
pelled to give an account of the disposition of the 
goods to the shipper. He says the bill as now 
amended will be helpful to the farmer and practicable 
to the seller. Anything except the stand-pat argu¬ 
ment of “leave things as they are” is a concession 
from Mr. Travis. He did not change his attitude, 
however, until confronted with criminal indictment^ 
of commission men charged with larceny. But Mr. 
Travis’ confession is more eloquent than his con¬ 
cessions. The original Roosevelt bill had a provision 
to oblige the commission merchant to keep a record 
of the name and address of the purchaser, as well 
as the price paid to him for the goods. In case of 
dispute the shipper could then look up the buyer. He 
would be available as a witness. There could be no 
valid reason for cutting this out of the bill except a 
desire to give dishonest commission men a chance 
to steal without being detected. Mr. Travis would 
not admit that he insisted on eliminating this provis¬ 
ion to help the dishonest system, but his actions speak 
louder than words. Every man familiar with the 
commission tricks knows that this was the best pro¬ 
vision of the bill. The elimination was in the inter¬ 
est of dishonesty and in insisting on cutting it out, 
Mr. Travis virtually confessed to a desire to make it 
easier for the rogues in the produce commission 
business to cover up the record of fraud. 
* 
Even now we meet some men who say it hardly 
pays to spray apple trees, and that the San Jose scale 
is dying out. Not much sense in arguing with such 
men—better employ the time in doing a little more 
thorough job at your own spraying. Of course we 
all know that when the millions of apple trees now 
planted come into bearing our people must search 
the earth for markets. Germany is one of the best 
foreign markets we have. In 1912 the Germans took 
$7,489,050 worth of fresh and dried American apples 
and pears. Yet in three months over 6,000 barrels of 
apples were rejected. In a report from Consul 
Halstead we find this: 
In the lot of G84 barrels sold on November 20 were 160 
barrels, out of which only 81 were without San Josd 
scale, the entire lot selling at $1.82 per barrel. Apples 
With San Jos6 scale cannot be imported for consumption In 
Germany, and when received must be sold for what they 
will bring for re-exportation or as ship supplies. All 
fruit, except such tropical fruits as bananas, lemons, and 
oranges, must be examined at the plant quarantine station 
before customs clearance is granted. No specified docu¬ 
ments are required for the application for inspection. One 
sample is taken from each lot of fruit imported, and when 
San Jos6 scale is found every package Is marked In red 
with the letters S J L, and if the goods are not promptly 
reshipped by sea they are seized and destroyed. 
That is only one small part of it. The markets 
which will reject scaly fruit are increasing every 
year. The man who sends the scale into market gets 
right into the scales against his own interests and 
make fruit growers pay more for the privilege of 
living. 
April 5, 
A bill at Albany introduced by Mr. Webb, of Cort¬ 
land County, ought to become law in the interests of 
milk producers. It requires proprietors of milk¬ 
gathering stations or wherever milk is bought, re¬ 
ceived and resold, to file a bond with the Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture. This is to insure payment to 
milk producers. This bill also provides for a receipt 
to be given each producer for the amount of milk 
he sends. This bill ought to pass. Milk producers 
have lost millions of dollars through the rascality of 
fly-by-night dealers who sell the milk and then dis¬ 
appear. Under this law they might fly, but the bond 
would remain good and the producers would get their 
money. By all means get back of this bill and help 
put it through. 
* 
On page 72 we described a farm drainage bill 
which the Vermont Legislature was considering. This 
bill authorized townships to raise money from the 
sale of bonds and loan it to farmers for drainage 
purposes—on long time loans. The bill passed and 
Governor Fletcher signed it. The new Commissioner 
of Agriculture, E. S. Brigham, was largely responsi¬ 
ble for this legislation. He will issue a drainage bul¬ 
letin showing how farmers can make use of the 
drainage law. Some of the best land in Vermont 
needs tapping. The Burlington Free Press sends 
Mr. Brigham the name of a commission firm in 
Boston which wants to advertise. The Press does 
not want Vermont farmers squeezed. So it comes 
after information: 
We always try to investigate all would-be advertisers, 
who ask the producers of Vermont to ship their hay or 
anything of that kind. Would it be feasible for your 
department to investigate all such people, and notify the 
newspapers of those whom you consider safe to do business 
with? 
That is fine work for the “Bashful State”—the way 
in which local papers can help their readers. The 
Commissioner of Agriculture may well cut out the 
dead beats and help put a premium on fair dealing. 
* 
We ask you to read the fair and timely article on 
farmers’ institute by Dr. Dean on page 490. The time 
has come to determine the future of this part of 
agricultural extension work. When Gov. Sulzer went 
into office a “committee of inquiry” was appointed 
to examine the proposed legislation and see wherein 
the business of the State can be improved. This com¬ 
mittee has reported giving more space to the Agri¬ 
cultural Department than to any other. Regarding 
the farmer’s institutes they say: 
For a great many years the Agricultural Department 
has had appropriations for the holding of farmers’ insti¬ 
tutes, which are purely educational in their character, and 
are properly Included in the extension work in agriculture. 
A proper division of the functions connected with the agri¬ 
cultural interests of the State should simply impose upon 
the Commissioner of Agriculture the enforcement of the 
agricultural laws, and we do not believe that in the future 
any work in regard to teaching or extension work should 
be undertaken by his Department. We therefore recom¬ 
mend that appropriations for farmers’ institutes under the 
protection of the Commission of Agriculture should cease. 
This does not mean that public meetings of this 
sort are to be given up. The work must be continued 
in some form, but we find a growing conviction that 
the farmers’ institute as at present organized has 
about served its purpose. This committee is simply 
looking at it in a cold-blooded business way—seeking 
not to destroy, but to find if possible how to make 
these meetings more useful. 
BREVITIES. 
Unless we can learn what it means to trust-^our co¬ 
operations will surely bust. 
Cow pea hay, thrashed and baled, is quoted at $10 a 
ton by a correspondent in Jackson Co., Ind. 
A reader in Illinois says he got dodder in $15 clover 
seed—so bad that six acres had to be plowed under. 
Just say this to your Senator. Say it good and stout: 
“Just represent the folks back home who need you—or 
got out!” 
Hereafter every young man or woman applying for a 
teacher’s certificate in Wisconsin must have a certificate 
of health from the university medical examiner. 
Now the scientists are trying to decide whether “bob 
veal” is really injurious food. Much of it is finally con¬ 
sumed as canned chicken. 
Experiments in England show that Soy bean meal is a 
little better than cottoii-seed as a food for cows. We can 
grow Soy beans. We must buy cotton-seed meal. 
Watermelon seeds are said to be worth $5 a pound in 
China—with pumpkin seed from $1.10 to $3.25. These 
are salted and oaten like nuts. 
How is the vetch crop? We find some farmers figuring 
how much they can get for the seed if they let it mature 
and can separate it. Our own crop looks very feeble. 
When you talk about high cost of living consider the 
following: Last year the American people consumed 94,- 
000,000 gallons .of whisky, 38,804,000 barrels of beer, 
8,500,000,000 cigarettes, 4,500,000 cigars and 250,000,000 
pounds of tobacco ! “Going some!” 
