H. ..-4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
July 19, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
TIIE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A \ nl I on nl Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home* * 
Established tsso 
Published weekly by the Unral PnMbklar Company, SS3 Weet 30th Street, Sen York 
Herbert YV. Collixgwood, President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
W*. K. Dittos, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royre, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. 82.04, equal to 8s. 6d., or 
8^' marks, or 10K 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. 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- 
ihlo nerson. But to make doubly sure we will make good any loss to paid 
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 Tine Rural New-Yorker 
when writing the advertiser. 
A number of New York commission men are mak¬ 
ing a great bluff in demanding an increased com¬ 
mission for selling produce. They claim that the 
expenses under the new Cole law make this increase 
necessary, and they are using this argument to 
make farmers discontented with the law. The ac¬ 
tual cost of bond and license will run under $25 per 
year and the demanded increase of commission is 
just pure “graft.” We hope some of the best com¬ 
mission men will see their opportunity in this and 
continue to do business at the old rate without this 
extortionate holdup. 
* 
We picked, out what we considered about 20 of the 
best farm papers, and you are the only people who have 
written us that you could not carry it. 
We get that from an advertiser who offers a new 
variety of wheat. He tries to convey the idea that 
this wonderful wheat will yield 50 or more bushels 
per acre. It is cunningly worded, clearly as a bait 
to call attention to a quite ordinary offer. We re¬ 
fused to insert this statement as we do not believe 
the wheat will give any such yield, and we do not 
believe the advertiser expects it will do so. If the 
other 19 papers want to stand for any 50-bushel 
yields—it is their privilege to do so. If, however, 
they would stand against such stories they could 
soon trim them down to reason. 
* 
We have, earlier than usual this year, letters 
from farmers asking how to cancel nursery con¬ 
tracts. Several slick-tongued fakes are at large sell¬ 
ing “contract orchards” or so-called “new varieties” 
at extravagant prices. The fact is that no reader 
of The R. N.-Y. should ever sign a contract with 
such fellows. We have exposed these schemes so 
many times that they ought to be like a twice-told 
tale to any member of The Rural family. If by 
some misplay you do sign such a contract you must 
be able to prove that the agent misrepresented in 
some way, as regards price, what he would do. or 
with regard to the value of the goods. Usually 
these fakes tell such ridiculous stories that it is 
easy to prove misrepresentation, but the best and 
easiest way is to make no contract at all. It is 
safe advice never to sign any paper offered by 
strangers. 
* 
We call attention to Prof. Alva Agee’s remarks 
about the New Jersey Agricultural College on page 
859. These remarks were started by the following 
note in The R. N.-Y.: 
Here are the agricultural colleges drifting away from 
us. You see that so long as they advocate “research” 
and the two-blades-of-grass theory they need fear noth¬ 
ing from the “big business” Yvhich charges us 65 cents 
of the dollar for carrying and handling and financing 
one dollar’s worth of our goods. Thinking will also 
show you that whenever these colleges honestly and 
fearlessly take up the 35-cent-dollar problem they will 
at once have a battle with this same “big business.” 
Prof. Agee says this statement does injustice. 
We may say in regard to this that we have a pretty 
wide private and confidential acquaintance with men 
in station and college work. Perhaps we may say, 
too. that The R. N.-Y. has closer and more human 
relation with its readers than most other farm 
papers. We therefore stand our ground and deny 
that we are doing any injustice in the above gen¬ 
eral statement. Nor do we see that Prof. Agee in 
his statement of the excellent work which New 
Jersey is doing gets down to the real issue. We 
have had too many men tell us what they are 
obliged to do in order to obtain appropriations for 
their colleges. We have heard too many of them 
say “If I were only free to say and do what I know 
about some of these things!” Here we have another 
illustration of the old fundamental difference re¬ 
garding the duty of the college and station. Prof. 
Agee does not believe that these institutions should 
fight —put in their teeth and act as watch dog. We 
think that dignity sometimes grows to he a disease. 
There are many reliable reports that dairymen 
are giving up their cows and starting other lines of 
farming. Some give one reason for the change and 
some another, but there is no doubt that dairy 
cattle are passing away from many farms. In some 
cases this is as it should be, for neither the farm 
nor the man is capable of producting and caring 
for high-grade stock, and in these days, no other 
kind of stock will pay. Yet even while this change 
is gOxUg on. population is increasing and the de¬ 
mand for good dairy products never was better 
among consumers. Cows are high and there is 
every indication that they will go higher. Thus, in 
spite of the fact that some dairymen are going out 
of the business, there never was a better time for 
others to stay in and improve their herds. Nor was 
there ever a better time to introduce pure blood into 
the herd. The grade cow will always be the business 
milk-making machine and the character of that ma¬ 
chine will he decided by the pedigree and perform¬ 
ance of her parents. The dairyman may control her 
performance, but her character goes with her blood. 
In all the history of dairying in this country there 
never was a better time than right now to breed 
up the dairy herd and improve it by the introduc¬ 
tion of high-class blood. The results are sure both 
in the improved cattle and in their products. 
* 
THE PRIZE PHOTOGRAPHS. 
About 200 pictures were submitted in the contest 
for illustrations of scenes in our little book “The 
Child.” They ranged all the way from rough pen¬ 
cil drawings to well-finished photographs. Some 
readers did not attempt to make original groups or 
studies of characters, but merely sent pictures of 
children with no connection with characters in the 
book. After a 'long and careful study our judges 
awarded the prizes as follows: 
No. 1.—Vincent I). Taylor, Vermont. This is a 
beautiful picture of Hiram Bently and “Mother” 
before the open fire. 
No. 2.—("has. A. Purchase, New York. This shows 
Hiram and Shep before the fire after the elder has 
carried the child upstairs. This fireplace picture 
Was a favorite subject with most of the contestants. 
No. 3.—Wm. C. Eaton, New York. This shows 
Hen Bingham playing his cruel little joke at the 
wood pile. 
No. 4.—Miss Artridge Belt, Maryland. 
Our judges found it hard to decide between two 
excellent pictures and therefore decided to give an 
extra prize. Miss Belt’s picture shows the “first 
lesson in milking” with Hiram milking at the child’s 
mouth. Some of the other pictures are excellent 
and we expect to make use of them. This contest 
has made us acquaiuted with a number of persons 
who evidently know how to group people so as to 
tell homely and striking farm stories without words. 
During the coming year we shall make a feature of 
this ability to tell the human side of farm life with 
the camera. 
* 
Every day brings new questions about the value 
of the commercial bacteria for inoculating seed. 
Most people now understand that the legumes or 
pod-bearing plants are able to take nitrogen from 
the air. This work is done by bacteria or tiny 
forms of life which live upon the roots of clover, 
beans, Alfalfa or other legumes. “Inoculation” 
means introducing these bacteria into soil where 
they were not found in order that the legumes may 
obtain this nitrogen from the air. The most natural 
way of inoculating is to use soil from a field in 
which these bacteria are found, but it is not always 
possible to obtain such soil. So the chemists pre¬ 
pare what they call “commercial cultures.” The bac¬ 
teria are propagated in the laboratory and put up 
in packages so that they will live and stand ship¬ 
ment. That is all these “commercial cultures” are 
—living germs ready to be started in water so as 
to soak the seed and thus introduce the bacteria. 
The principle is not unlike that of distributing yeast 
packages for bread making. The theory of all this 
is sound, and if the soil conditions are right the 
use of these germs will often heliv start such a crop 
as Alfalfa. The trouble is that the farmer is led 
to expect too much from the use of these germs. No 
man can hope to raise a good Alfalfa crop unless the 
soil is deep and rich, well supplied with lime 
and put in fine condition for the seed. The 
germs will not take the place of lime or good drain¬ 
age or fertilizer or good tillage. In most cases of 
Alfalfa seeding they are no more important than 
lime and less important than good drainage. They 
are all right for part of the scheme for growing 
Alfalfa or other pod-bearing plants, but do not let 
anyone bluff you into believing that these commer¬ 
cial cultures will take the place of lime, drainage, 
good culture and common sense. 
We think many of our people would be better off 
to buy their nursery trees in the Fall. They would 
be better served and he less likely to receive a Jot of 
misfits and substitutes if they bought in the Fall. 
The nurseryman has more time then to sort and 
pack. In Spring he is rushed through a short sea¬ 
son. We think, too, that most nurserymen would 
make a little better price for Fall delivery. If you 
do not. like Fall planting you can heel in the trees 
safely over Winter and have them just when you 
want them in Spring. You also know just what 
sort of trees you are buying and if there should be 
any question about them you can settle it and not 
have the question come up just as the trees ought 
to go into the ground. You can if you like send 
samples to the experiment station or to fruit meet¬ 
ings for inspection or identification. There are 
more arguments yet for Fall buying and we think 
it will pay. 
* 
Why, yes, there are still a few belated gentlemen 
who say there is no such thing as a 35-cent dollar. 
They should he introduced to Mrs. Julian Heath, 
president of the Housewives’ League! The other 
day Mrs. Heath went ou a crusade for information 
among New' York markets: 
She learned among other things that a basket of 
beans, containing 32 quarts, was sold at 60 cents whole¬ 
sale. The next morning she was obliged to pay 15 cents 
a quart for beans at an uptown store. Potatoes sold 
at wholesale ou the pier at $1.75 per barrel and on the 
following day she bought a bushel at $1.45 retail. 
.When these potatoes sell at wholesale for $1.75 
the Southern grower does well if he seeux-es $1.25 
net and out of that he w'ill pay for the barrel and 
all expenses of growing. You may figure what part 
of the dollar he gets. The way to fatten that 35- 
ceut dollar is to tack on a few cents which now go 
to useless handlers. That means getting closer to 
the consumer. The first road to take leads to Al¬ 
bany. Write to Marc W. Cole if there is auy way 
for you to combine with your neighbors for selling 
a uniform product. Through him you may find 
some other organization which wants to buy. 
* 
If the Nation’s crooks exacted any comfort iroin 
the result of the Strout suit, they will be disap¬ 
pointed in the Court decision on the opposite page. 
That decree will he a profitable subject of study 
for every farmer who has a farm to sell or to buy. 
We have held to the opinion that the Strout con¬ 
tract to collect a withdrawal fee could not be en¬ 
forced when the farmer who signed it had no knowl¬ 
edge of the existence of this provision in the con¬ 
tract. The Court not only sustains our view but 
also our right to express the opinion. Of course, 
in any given case the fact would have to be proven, 
but that is another matter. It is enough to say 
here that the testimony of many farmers that they 
were ignorant of the provision seems to be corrobo¬ 
rated by information emanating from the Strouts 
themselves. 
The Court also sustains our position with refer¬ 
ence to the buyer. The contract with the owner by 
which the agent has all the purchase price above a 
sum fixed by the seller is of course legitimate in 
itself; but the agent must not misrepresent matters 
to the buyer. If the agents do make false represen- 
tations, and the buyer relying on the truth of the 
representations, is deceived as to the value of the 
property, then he is entitled to redress in the courts. 
Again whether or not the Strouts misrepresented 
their rights as agents to the buyer is a matter of 
proof in any given case. The farmers’ testimony 
and Strout literature will be competent evidence on 
this point and the testimony of Strout’s local agents 
will also he competent. 
The Court’s lucid statement of the law will be 
interesting to farmers as well as to publishers and 
lawyers. The Court intimates that a paper know¬ 
ingly and maliciously publishing false statemeuts 
to injure another may he enjoined; but so long as 
the editor acts in good faith to protect his readers 
he is privileged to do so. 
BREVITIES. 
For the bnck-to-tho-lauder a very safe bet—he will 
float to success through an ocean of sweat. 
Does the automobile take worshippers away from 
the country church to the larger one in town ! 
Plum and apple trees are best suited for planting in 
henyards. The peach cannot stand rich feeding so well. 
The Germans are making grape seed oil. The clear 
oil obtained by pressing can be eaten—that extracted 
by solvents is used for industrial purposes. 
Watch for boards or shingles with old nails sticking 
from them—in the barnyard. We have had a horsi- 
disabled for 10 days by stepping on such a nail! 
The Summer school at the Kansas Agricultural Col¬ 
lege has 400 students. It is attended largely by teach¬ 
ers who may be expected to teach agriculture in public 
schools. 
