70 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
.February 12, 
Hope Farm Notes 
Last week I went to Rochester, N. Y., 
to attend the Western New York Horticul¬ 
tural meeting. In a way this Is about the 
most important meeting of the sort held in 
this country. You can get what the speak¬ 
ers said by reading the printed report, but 
the real spirit of such a gathering can only 
be obtained by mingling with the people 
and listening to their conversation. The 
platform may receive the applause and get 
into print, but the floor dominates after all. 
A speaker might advocate some plan in 
the meeting and apparently meet with ap¬ 
proval. Yet the members in private con¬ 
versation. might repudiate his theory and 
end it. I was most interested in contrasting 
old times with the new. The first time I 
went to Rochester to attend this meeting 
was about 20 years ago. At that time 
there were perhaps 350 persons in the audi¬ 
ence. This year by o’clock of the first, day 
over 1,200 had paid the membership fee 
and more were coming. Then a medimn- 
si/.ed room held tin* company with space to 
spare. Now a great convention hall was 
packed with three meetings going on at 
once, and exhibits of machinery, fruit and 
spraying goods nil open at once and all 
crowded. Then most of the listeners were 
white-haired or men of middle years. Now 
some of those very men were still on hand, 
active and vigorous, but the great, majority 
were in the prime of life or younger, full of 
hope and courage, and strong in their faith. 
The first year I attended a few Cornell 
students started a feeble cheer when Prof. 
Roberts got up to talk. This year these 
students were judging fruit, tulking about 
spraying and taking a leading part all 
through. 
Twenty years ago a few hand pumps 
were on exhibition with nozzles which sent 
a stream of water much like that from a 
squirt gun. A few growers wore spraying 
with l’arl.s-green and water to kill the 
Codling worm. No one knew much about 
Itordenux Mixture. Lime and sulphur was 
unheard of. The San Josd scale had not ar¬ 
rived. This year a large hall was completely 
filled with power spraying machines. Five 
different kinds of oils for killing scale were 
exhibited, and I counted six different brands 
of concentrated lime and sulphur! It was 
like going back into the past to remember 
the history of this material. It was first 
tried with salt and rejected. Then step by 
step we learned how to make it properly. 
'Then some one offered a concentrated mix¬ 
ture and it was driven off the market, ltut 
necessity drove (lie experimenters on, and 
now the concentrated mixtures are sold by 
the thousand gallons. The oils are being 
developed the last one having the fat: from 
sheep’s wool for its base. There was a great 
and wonderful business developed in 20 
years from a few clumsy pumps. It is prob¬ 
able that my boys will see, 20 years hence, 
an even greater advance tliun the one we 
glance hack over. If you say that the busi¬ 
ness of spraying is incapable of any such 
development you must concede that it will 
stand still while everything else goes on. 
I have no expectation that Hurbank will 
create a tree that will spray Itself, and the 
coming fruit industry will require even 
more thorough work than we thus far been 
able to do. One might say the scale would 
have a poor chance against this great array 
of ammunition, but let us remember that 
one pair of insects, if left nlone, might be 
responsible for 1,000,000 young. Western 
New York and all other sections where fruit 
growing is concentrated will And Insects 
and diseases increasing with each year of 
orclia rding. 
Twenty years ago as I remember it the 
exhibit of fruit was better than the one 
this year. The Virginia exhibit at Win- 
cbester was very much superior in every 
way. The Geneva Experiment Station had 
a collection of seedling apples. I was in¬ 
terested to sec how often Hen Davis ap¬ 
peared as one parent of these new fruits. 
That stout old fraud had marked his color 
and shape upon them, hut 1 hope he gave 
the other side a chance at the quality. These 
fruit exhibits In Western New York arc 
quite unlike these you find in Virginia or 
the West. In Virginia, for example, the 
fruit was a great advertisement- a studied 
effort to show what the State can do. In 
New York it seems to me as if the spirit: 
might, lie thus interpreted : "Our section is 
headquarters for Huldwln, Greening, King 
and Spy-—with Hen Davis on the side. 
Everyone knows that, so what is the use 
in trying to prove it?” 
This exhibit would not indicate that West¬ 
ern New York is turning to new varieties, 
or that: any particular effort Is being made 
to pack In boxes or smaller pneknges than 
barrels. One would get the idea that most 
of these growers are well satisfied to do a 
wholesale business on the reputation of 
"New York Baldwins." 
And they have reason to be satisfied with 
the figures they present. The apple growers 
who are beginning to get “cold feet.” 
through fear of over-planting would get no 
sympathy In Western New York. “Why" 
said one man, “only a few years ago Orleans 
County grew $200,000 worth of apples, and 
we were frightened to know what to do 
with them. Now this county grows over 
$2,000,000 worth and cannot fill all de¬ 
mands !" 
Take that man to central Pennsylvania 
and travel along the mountains down 
through West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia 
and North Carolina. Show him the millions 
of young trees growing on the hillsides. Let 
him eat a few Pippins and Winesaps, and 
notice how people are learning to box (he 
fruit. Then take him through a dozen more 
sections where young trees tire coming on 
under skillful care- -would you frighten him 
at the prospect? 
Not a bit! lie could challenge you to 
take a day off and spend It right in Roches¬ 
ter -going at: random from house to house 
asking people If they had enough tipples. 
You would find that not 10 per cent of the 
people have the fruit they would buy if they 
could afford it. I hope to go to another 
meeting 20 years from now. Put my hope 
In print that I shall then find 20,000 mem¬ 
bers owning a great building and doing 
their own business of selling and distribu¬ 
ting. 
Yes, the future of the apple business 
seemed all fine and gay on the surface. Yet 
get the older men off by themselves and 
they would admit that there Is hard work 
ahead, with a shadow growing and deepen¬ 
ing in the corners. That shadow Is smaller 
than a man’s hand it is a wormy apple. 
On one table was an exhibit of small, wormy 
and stained fruit taken out of a barrel of 
"Choice New York Baldwins." There is the 
shadow on the future! This curse of dis¬ 
honest packing will do more damage than 
the San .lost 1 scale or apple scab, because 
you cannot spray lime and sulphur or copper 
on tin 1 living man’s conscience. There never 
was a grenlcr opportunity Hum right now 
for honest New York Baldwin men to get 
together and save the trade mark. 
Hut if ali these great changes have been 
worked out in the business of apple growing 
what about tbe individual apple growers? 
It is easy to sec that the men have grown 
too in 2Q years. Prosperity has come to 
that section, and the men who came to that 
meeting carried the various badges that go 
with It. Poverty, sorrow, want and failure 
are still to be found on the farms of Western 
New York us they always will be, yet as a 
whole farming represents far greater wealth 
and higher reputation and character than 
20 years ago. The orchards hnve drawn 
millions of dollars into the territory which 
naturally drains Into Rochester. I have 
always said that whenever the Income of 
a purely agricultural section can lie in¬ 
creased we shall have the strongest and 
most useful national investment that is pos¬ 
sible. The apple money that has been pour¬ 
ing Into Western New York lias paid mort¬ 
gages. built and furnished beautiful homes, 
improved farms and towns and given char¬ 
acter and public confidence to farmers. 
For example 1 talked with a number of 
farmers about the bribery scandal at Albany. 
Senator Conger accuses Senator A lids of 
accepting money In exchange for “influence." 
The universal sentiment was that llie 
charges should he knifed to the core, and 
if the money really passed both men should 
hr kepi (it home. One man put It lids way: 
“Ten years ago if such a scandal had come 
up I should have favored hushing It np, or 
wirepulling so as not to hurt the party. I 
am now ashamed to say that in those days 
my first idea was to help the party right or 
wrong. Now I am over that and if my party 
will stand for bribery or “graft" and not 
try to clean it out it Is not the party for 
me!" I am sure 1 put Hint same suggestion 
to at least 40 prominent farmers. Every 
one of them endorsed it and admitted that 
in some way, they could not tell how, they 
had grown away from Ihc old “party right 
or wrong" slavery. That Is only one indi¬ 
cation of the way these men have grown 
In 20 years. Having started 1 think the de¬ 
velopment of the next 20 years will be re¬ 
markable. As these men put lime and sul¬ 
phur on the scale I hey will gel lit the habit: 
of throwing the limelight on the public 
scoundrel. 
Do I claim then that the Western New 
York Society has grafted wings upon the 
shoulders oi its members? Not a lilt, of it. 
From the president down there isn’t a man 
in the society capable of applying for the 
position of angel. 'Phis society has done 
great good by bringing men together for 
discussion and friendly feeling hut the true 
secret of it is that Nature and man have 
combined to give Western New York as a 
whole a fairer share of the consumer’s dol¬ 
lar. Give me the potvor to increase the pro¬ 
ducer's shore of that dollar for a term of 
10 years in any farm section of this country 
and 1 will show you Just such improvement 
as you will find from Rochester to the 
lakes. It would mean better homes, better 
farms, stronger character and more hopeful 
men and women- and not one cent or the 
Increased prosperity would he unjustly taken 
from any human being. I do not say that 
the development we need in the country Is 
simply n mailer of more money. It is the 
feeling thill the farmer is receiving n fairer 
share of what lie produces, and is not sim¬ 
ply feeding three families besides his own. 
There is where the hope for the future farmer 
lies. As these apple men accumulate prop¬ 
erly and capita] they must have newer ideas 
ami visions for the future. The hope for 
these orchards and farms which represent 
ttieir life work does not rest upon a dollar, 
or upon the wisdom of the scientists hut. 
upon the tender life of a Hide child. Know¬ 
ing that, these men will more ami more de¬ 
mand the influences and the education which 
will fit the child properly. 
These are a few of the things which came 
to me while going over the exhibit of men 
and hoys at tills meeting. You may say that 
I might have found the evidence of evil 
grasping ambition and selfish interests ir I 
had hunted for them as I did for evidence 
of good. No doubt of li such things are 
inseparable from prosperity, hut i do not 
hunt for them when I see I lie good strug¬ 
gling for dominion. II is n great part of my 
agricultural creed that if you can only get. 
(he farmers of liny section to demand and 
obtain their fair share of the consumer's 
dollar joii will sliinulnle them to worthier 
things. That Is what lias happened in West¬ 
ern New York If 1 know anything about 
reading signs. The evidence of what it Is 
doing for farm and Slate and country Is the 
greatest, object lesson 1 have seen in years. 
li. w. c. 
The greatest \ \ \ ^ 
implements ever invented^L ^ \ \ 
Planet Jr farm and garden \ \ 
plements have done more to lighten^kSv . ^ ^ ( 
labor, save time and money and pro- VA * 
duce bigger crops than any other imple¬ 
ments in farming history. They are used 
by over two million farmers and gardeners— 
a positive proof of their practical working 
and saving power. 
They were invented by an ingenious farmer 
who was determined to have implements that 
would do quicker and better work. He has now had 
over thirty-five years’ additional experience at manufac¬ 
turing Planet |rs and the Company which he heads 
operates an immense plant to produce them. 
Planet Jr GardenTools 
Planet Jrs fill a real need for profitable cultivation that 
was never met before. They will do almost any kind 
of cultivation required in -farm or garden. They are 
light, yet strong and compact, and will last a lifetime. 
J. 8TEMw.it, Amboy, W. Vn., wrllwij ** My fnthrr bought n rianct Jr xnora than twenty yearn ago, 
and ill* Kill] roo< 1 for twenty year it more," 
No. 4 Planet Jr Combined Seeder and Wheel-Hoe saves 
time, labor, seed, and money. Almost all useful garden implements in 
one. Adjustable in a minute to sow all garden seeds, hoe, cultivate 
weed, or plow. Pays for itself quickly, even in small gardens. 
New No. 81 Planet Jr Horse-Hoe, Cultivator and Fur- 
rower is a great implement for cultivating and hilling crops up 
to 4 feet apart. Equipped with 6 cultivator teeth, a pair of 
hoes or plows, ami a 12-inch furrowing tooth. Com¬ 
pact and steady-running. 
Every progressive farmer needs a Planet Jr 
to increase his profits. 
Handsome Catalogue free 
Get our new 56-page illustrated catalogue of 1910 Planet 
Jrs. it describes 55 different tools including Seeder*. 
Wheel 11 OCR, H orsc-lioes, One and Two Horse Riding 
Cultivators, Harrows, Orchard and Meet Cultivators. 
It costs you nothing if you fill out the coupon in the 
upper corner, cut off, enclose in an envelope or 
paste on :t postal and mail to us. Do it now 
while you think of it. 
S L Allen & Co Box VI107 Philndu Pit 
side 
No. 4 
A NEW FEATURE IN OUR 
WELL-KNOWN AGRICULTURAL 
D R A I 
TILE 
DRAIN TILE 
SQCAKi: HULK IN HI UK In place of round. Will carry on«* more water 
than round. Many pleaaed cUMtoinor* uniug targa quantities, ptafar them. Hama 
materials as our wHI-nown No. 2 Conduit exteiiHlvrly used Im farm era everywhere and 
do not cost any more than ordinary soft burnt ilia. Writ* for priem and !<♦••• f«»np|«». 
Freight charge* prepaid. Place order* now for early r.pring delivery and avoid delay* 
H. It. CAMP CO.. Fulton Hnilding..MTTMMHKOII. 1»A. 
Stop Wasting Your Grain l 
That's Just what you tire doing, air— iraxtiTW 1 /our ffrum because you don’t grind It 
before feeding. You're losing corncob profits, too! For ground cob Is an Im¬ 
portant ration Ingredient, l’ost yourself. Order the booklet, “The Right Way 
to Feed Grain, “ which is free to practical farmers. (Jive* briefly, In boiled- 
(luwn form, latest (nelson feeding hogs.-cattle, milk cows, horses, sheep, 
and poultry—a wealth of Information free. 
l,et us tell you, too, uhoul the fc>kwi«s FEKII MILL 
that dealers everywhere sell al low prices on a free trial 
offer, tl'x a money make)—grinds corn, cobs, small grain 
—makes stoek food or table meal coarse or fine. Rasy to 
run. Can’t “(til lip." Uses any kind of power. Flvcsi-zes. 
Write for book on (irain Feeding now. Itnoltxpil dealer 
handles the New Holland please advise us. We will then 
supply you and gtve you an extended free trial. New 
Holland Wood Saws, too ! 
NEW HOLLAND MACHINE CO.. Boi 13. New Holland, Plnn. 
Fifteen Years’ Service Without Painting—Or a 
New Roof—That is Our Guarantee to You— 
and the guarantee in stamped right on the 
roofing itself, with the year you buy it. 
Twill last you much longer than that, but for 15 years we 
are responsible. Think of that lay your roof and forget it 
for 15 years. No expense—no repairing—no renewing. 
We don’t know the wearing possibilities of our own roofing. 
Our 25-year-old roofs are as serviceable and look as good 
now as roofing laid five years ago. Wc make our guar¬ 
antee 15 years to be safe, but wo know it is good for 
twenty-five years. 
DICKELMAN 
EXTRA 
Galvanized Metal Roofing 
Is the only metal roofing made which is so 
scientifically galvanized that it can be guar¬ 
anteed against rust. 
Only the toughest, most pliable, open- 
hearth stock is ever used. This metal is 
peculiarly porous and long-fiberod, so that 
when It 1 b put into the galvanizing pots the 
liquid spelter doe* not veneer but penetrate* 
tbit fiber and amalgamate* with the metal 
bame, thus protecting it forever. 
Dickclman Extra is easily laid. It is al¬ 
ready turned and adjusted for end locks. 
All you have to do Is to place together, and 
you have a i>crfeet double seam. 
Try one of our samples, test It and then 
test some ordinary galvanized roofing. Huy 
the one which does not flake or crack. It 
will be Dickelman’s. Write today lor 
Free Samples and Book on Roofing 
The book will show you how you can save 
money on your roofing, how to lay roof¬ 
ing easily, how to avoid repair bills. 
Your dealer will know about Dickel- 
iiDto’*. Ask him. Hut let us send you 
tliis free book and sample. Write today. 
THE DICKELMAN MFC. CO. 
62 Gormley St., Forest, Ohio 
