6HO 
Juno 25, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
* THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homea. 
Established 1850. 
Published weekly by the Rural Publishing Company, 409 Pearl Street, New Tork. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor, 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Hoyle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
8 s. Cd., or 8*2 marks, or 10*2 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 backed by a 
responsible person. But to make doubly sure we will make good any 
loss to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler 
advertising in ourcolumns, and any such swindler will be publicly ex¬ 
posed. Wo protect suberibers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust trifling differences between subscribers and honest, respon¬ 
sible advertisers. Neither will wo 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. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to introduce The R. N.-Y. to progressive, 
intelligent farmers who do not now take it, we send it 
10 weeks for 10 cents for strictly introductory pur¬ 
poses. We depend on our old friends to make this 
known to neighbors and friends. 
* 
What did B do? A had agreed to deliver B 50 bushels 
of peaches at the market price. When A arrived with 
the peaches C met him and offered him $1.40 per bushel 
for his load. “Well,” said A, “1 promised this load to 
B, and if he offers me as much as that, he gets the 
peaches; otherwise they are yours at $1.40.” C then 
went to B and told him he could get the peaches for 
$1.40, though the prices paid that day were $1.50 per 
bushel. What did B do? J. w. G. 
You might try your hand, and mind, on that little 
problem. Such things seem to be as our political 
friends say, “a part of the game.” The rules of such 
a game ought to be changed. 
* 
Mr. H. M. Whiting, or the Whiting Nursery Co., 
has been indicted by the Orleans County grand jury. 
You remember that Whiting went through that sec¬ 
tion selling nursery trees. He told extravagant 
stories about them and charged extravagant prices. 
Long before this The R. N.-Y. exposed his meth¬ 
ods, and told of dissatisfaction in other places. The 
main charge against Whiting before the grand jury 
was that he had residence in another State, but at¬ 
tempted to do business in New York without regis¬ 
tering either at Albany or at the county seat of 
Orleans Co., N. Y. 
* 
The New York State Agricultural Department has 
issued a book of 206 pages giving descriptions of 
occupied or unoccupied farms which are for sale or 
rent. Many of the buildings on these farms are pic¬ 
tured. The New York Central Railroad Company has 
also issued a pamphlet describing such farms lying 
along its lines. With these pamphlets a would-be 
' buyer or renter can get a fair idea of what these 
farms are. No man should buy one of them without 
making a personal visit. Within the next 10 years 
Eastern farm property will become far more desir¬ 
able, but we caution buyers to take time and know 
just what they are doing. 
* 
If you are asked to invest in coal mines along the 
Dan River in North Carolina we advise you to write 
the United States .Geological Survey before parting 
with your money. In this region there are beds of 
black shale which resemble coal, and during the Civil 
War quantities of a so-called coal were mined and 
shipped on the river. Careful examinations show that 
there are no valuable coal beds in this region—merely 
veins of mixed coal a few inches thick. This warn¬ 
ing is issued because we know that speculators are 
quite ready to issue "stock” on the basis of dark color 
or strong smell, and claim “par value” for it. We get 
in ahead of any such propositions for coal mines on 
the Dan River. 
* 
Last year during the harvesting season the news¬ 
papers reported cases where small gasoline engines 
were used to run harvesting machinery. We were 
told that these small engines, somewhat like those 
used on motor cycles, were connected with the ma¬ 
chinery so that practically all the horses had to do 
was to handle the weight of the machine. This idea 
struck the popular fancy, and was widely quoted. 
We have written manufacturers of harvesters, but 
have not yet found one who claims that the plan has 
succeeded. Most of them have read the reports but 
have been unable to locate a case where this plan 
was definitely successful. In theory such a thing 
seems plausible both for harvesters or for machinery 
like manure spreaders, but theory is often many miles 
from practice. Can any of our readers tell us where 
small engines have been used for this purpose? 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Our reports show that country people all over New 
York are working for a primary nominations bill. 
When the Legislature meets in special session on June 
20 there will be at least 40 members in about the 
hardest position that a public man can occupy. They 
will have their orders from the bosses to kill the bill 
which Governor Hughes will offer. On the other 
hand, they will know in unmistakable language what 
will happen to them if they do so. They know what 
the people want and what the bosses want. There 
cannot be any chance for argument about the situa¬ 
tion—they must either follow the bosses or the people. 
If they are not as blind as bats they know that the 
bosses will lead them to final ruin. Keep right at 
them and give them no rest. The shouting thousands 
who welcome Theodore Roosevelt at the end of Man¬ 
hattan Island will make more noise, but the sullen 
crowd at Albany whipped into public duty by the 
“man with the vote” will make American history! 
* 
The man who has all his eggs in one basket this 
season will either have a "full basket or fried eggs 
whenever he wants them. The constant rains have 
given a great grass crop and except for plums the 
tree fruit has made a remarkable growth. Straw¬ 
berries are rotting badly, and garden or truck crops 
are very backward. The farmer with orchard, grain 
and grass ought to do well provided he can have 
a bright and warm July. Dairymen ought to have 
good pastures, but corn is behind on many farms. 
The small fruit growers and truckers are having 
trouble. It is hard to see a great berry crop rot on 
the vines, hard to see a contagious disease spread 
through a herd, hard to stand by and see a frost kill 
the fruit, or a drought burn up the crops or a deluge 
wash them away. These things are hard, but a vet¬ 
eran farmer knows that he must stand up against 
them all in the course of his farming. They are 
hard, but complaining or quitting only makes them 
harder. 
* 
Next September a new experiment in agricultural 
education will be started at Lyndon, Vermont. This 
school will be located on a good farm in connection 
with Lyndon Academy. It is for Vermont boys and 
will teach the sort of farming best adapted to Ver¬ 
mont conditions. A boy must havje the training 
which would qualify him to enter a high school. He 
will be taught the theory of agriculture at the Acad¬ 
emy and practical farming on the farm. The char¬ 
acteristic feature of the school is a labor system 
which will enable a stout boy to pay all his expenses. 
These expenses for nine months are figured at $36 
for tuition, $108 for board and room, and $18 for 
books. Students may pay this in cash or work on 
the farm at 15 cents an hour or $25 per month in 
Summer. It will not be in any sense a charity school 
—you may trust a Green Mountain Yankee to avoid 
that. The school offers poor farm boys a chance to 
obtain a sensible education with their own hands, and 
with not a finger in fathers’ purse. The idea of this 
school is a good one. Let it be worked out. 
* 
Our readers have worked hard for a parcels post 
and many of them have received promises of aid from 
Congressmen. They will want the true situation that 
they may act accordingly. The House Committee on 
Post Office and Post Roads has during the past ses¬ 
sion considered parcels post legislation. The chair¬ 
man is Congressman J. W. Weeks of Massachusetts. 
The members of this committee fully understand the 
great demand for a fair parcels post system. There 
can be no question about that, and yet they do noth¬ 
ing until close to the end of the session, when they 
offer, through Mr. Weeks, the bill printed on the next 
page. We are informed that Mr. Weeks now states, 
after a non-committal attitude all through the ses¬ 
sion, that he is opposed to a parcels post extension 
and that he does not believe the government should 
compete with the express companies. It is worth 
something at least to get these men out into the open. 
The proposed bill would make the rate on all 
fourth class matter three-quarters of a cent an ounce 
—a reduction of 25 per cent from the present rate. 
It would mean a new set of stamps for how could a 
five or seven ounce package be mailed without quar¬ 
ter or half-cent stamps? There is a rate now of 12 
cents a pound with foreign countries. It has been 
shown that a pair of shoes can be sent from this 
country to Mexico by mail cheaper than they can go 
by freight while the same shoes sent anywhere in this 
country would cost one-fourth more than the postage 
to Mexico, France, Germany or England! All that 
this committee offers to do therefore is to give Amer¬ 
icans about the same privilege in the United States 
mails which foreigners now enjoy. As we have said 
it is a good thing to get these men out in the open. 
We never had them there before and the constant 
firing during the Winter is what drove them out. It 
now remains to show them that we mean business. 
They do not believe we do, but think our work is 
largely talk and froth. A Democratic Congressman 
has introduced a real parcels post bill and will speak 
for it. Should he be nominated for Governor of 
New York he will make this bill a part of his plat¬ 
form. The R. N.-Y. does not care what party a man 
belongs to provided he can be used to aid a reform 
which the people need. If this Congressman can 
bring the question of a parcels post squarely before 
the farmers of New York State he will do them a 
great service, and we think their response to it will 
he the greatest eye opener the politicians have had for 
many years. 
* 
We certainly have tried hard to get some one to 
tell us what Senator John Kean has ever done for 
the people of New Jersey! If there are those who 
know they seem to be shy. We doubt if even a prize 
would call out the information. One reader sends 
us some remarks from Congressman Fowler of New 
Jersey, which come nearest to the mark of anything 
yet at hand: 
If Senator Kean should lock up bis political check book 
until after the election in November, lock it up even now, 
and his brother, Hamilton F. Kean, should lock up his 
political check book too, even now, and Senator Kean 
should content himself with going about the State and 
trying to tell the people why he should be returned to the 
Senate, Is there one single person in the whole State who 
honestly believes that Senator Kean would be re-elected? 
That certainly is a conundrum. As one single 
persons who lives in New Jersey the writer believes 
that Senator Kean’s record would carry him about 
like a 50-pound weight tied to the neck of a swim¬ 
mer. The question is still unanswered— What has 
John Kean ever done for the people of New Jersey? 
* 
Those of us who can look back 25 years and re¬ 
member when practically no spraying was done are 
not startled at anything now proposed. In the earlier 
days a few crude pumps provided power—now an 
entirely new business has been built up in supplying 
spraying outfits. The following letter from Virginia 
suggests about the latest advance: 
The compressed air outfit has beeti working with the 
greatest satisfaction. Do you think it would be practical 
to pipe the air for half a mile? Rome of my orchards 
are too far from the water power, and too much time is 
lost on the road. s. s. g. 
In this case there is abundant water power from 
a brook where the air compressor is located, and it 
would be quite possible to pipe this air half a mile. 
In European countries compressed air was at one 
time largely used in this way. It was piped for miles 
—the pipes being tapped at intervals to supply power 
for any work requiring a turning wheel. Such sug¬ 
gestions indicate what is coming in the near future. 
Who can doubt but that the advance in the next 
20 years will more than equal that of the past 20? 
* 
In northern New Jersey during the past season 
the gardeners were afflicted with a curse of cutworms. 
The soil seemed alive with the insects, and they 
threatened to destroy all crops. The only practical 
remedy for these worms when they appear is some 
form of poison, and the gardeners gave them a full 
charge of bran and Paris green. This held them in 
check and saved the crops. But now word comes 
that some of these gardeners are to be indicted for 
leaving poison where birds can get at it. This 
would lie a good case to thrash out in court, and we 
think the farmers would do the thrashing while the 
other side would take it. Would it not be a glorious 
thing if a farmer is to be compelled to stand still 
and see his crops destroyed in order to save the life 
of a few wild birds? For years this dose of poisoned 
bran has been the standard remedy for insects like 
cutworms. It has been recommended by the experi¬ 
ment stations and is the only method by which crops 
can be saved in outbreaks like this one in New Jersey. 
We hope those gardeners will keep right on using 
this remedy when they need to, and defend their 
rights. 
BREVITIES. 
We should pass up the job of curing a sitting hen of 
eating eggs! 
I)o not feed dish water or swill containing soap powder 
to hogs. You might better butcher them. 
Remember that mosquitoes breed in stagnant water and 
flies breed in horse manure. Drain the water and haul 
out the manure. 
In most parts of the North eggs of the peach borer will 
soon be laid. Next to the scale this insect is the worst 
enemy of peach trees. Dig the borers out in September. 
Among other firms fined under the pure food laws is 
G. II. Lowell who offered to sell “conereta butterol,” 
which “tone up the quality of butter.” The Michigan 
Produce Co. sold “Neufchatel cream cheese”—which was 
a skim-milk cheese filled in with starch. 
We find one set of men claiming that Postmaster Gen¬ 
eral Hitchcock expects to cut the present postal deficit 
down by $9,000,000 this year. Then comes another set 
claiming that Mr. Hitchcock is opposed to parcels post 
because the Post Office Department is still running behind. 
