702 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
The R llt*a1 Vrfcflro-r way ’ and they are > t0 that extent, wise. A good bunch 
1 ^ C VV X U1KCi of printer’s ink on the “dishonest dealer’s” name is 
the nodule which will collect this wisdom and put it 
where it does the most good. Our experience is that 
the average dealer gets wise very rapidly when he 
feels the life inside that nodule working. 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER. 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes. 
Established 1850. 
PabUihed weekly by the Kara! Publishing Company, 409 Pearl Street, Sew York. 
Herbert W. Collingwood, President and Editor, 
Ttr.. m ,, OHN J - Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
M. F, Billon, Secreta ry. Mrs. E. T. Koylb, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04, equal to 
or 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. VV e protect subcribers against rogues, but we do not guarantee 
to adjust trifling differences between subscribers and honest, respon¬ 
sible 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, 
h f. ve 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. 
* 
If we had a dollar for each time E. G. Lewis or his 
friends have called us liars, dishonest rogues, black¬ 
mailers and similar pleasantries, we could pay all of 
those 40 or more claims with interest and have a large 
sum left. If words could kill there would not be even 
a memory left of us. But it depends on what there is 
back of the words. 
Our reports thus far show that lime-sulphur of 
proper strength is proving a good substitute for Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture. There has been considerable “Bor¬ 
deaux injury” this year in some localities, and this 
has induced many fruit growers to try other materials. 
In some cases the lime-sulphur has been used too 
strong—even at the strength recommended for dor¬ 
mant trees. Of course this injured the foliage, but it 
seems clear that a weak mixture will do the business 
without harm. 
* 
Where the soil is as dry as it is with us we would 
not sow clover and turnips in the corn. The seed 
cannot sprout. A little shower would start it and 
then a hot wind would nip the life out of the little 
plant. Better keep the cover crop out under such 
circumstances. But do not understand that the soil 
can safely stand bare through the Fall. When the 
rain does come this overheated soil will form nitrates, 
and unless there is some living crop in the land this 
plant food will be lost. Rye will take care of this soil, 
and we shall cover all the corn land with it. Vetch 
seed added to the rye is good practice for late sowing. 
But cover the land even if you can use nothing but rye. 
* 
Last week we spoke of drainage loans to help farm¬ 
ers drain their farms. The Province of Ontario lends 
money to farmers through the township local govern¬ 
ments. The town council must pass a by-law giving 
them power to borrow from $2,000 to $10,000 for under¬ 
drainage. They then issue debenture bonds—one 
farmer being permitted to borrow from $100 up to 
$1,000. This money is repaid on the installment plan, 
and is collected by the local government like any other 
tax. Under this system many farmers are able to 
drain their farms on easy terms, for they have 20 
years in which to pay the loan. Nova Scotia is now 
considering such a law. It is proving a great help to 
farmers, and there is no reason why this privilege 
should be granted on one side of the St. Lawrence 
River and denied on the other. 
* 
I will give you till the first day of next month to 
make this matter right, and if I do not receive a remit¬ 
tance by that date I will send this bill that you sent me to 
The R. N.-Y. for treatment. They make nodules grow on 
the roots of dishonest dealers, and especially those they 
advertise. 
That is an extract from a letter sent to an adver¬ 
tiser by one of our readers. In this case the trouble 
was due to a misunderstanding, and was settled. The 
last sentence is what we call attention to. It seems 
that those “Little Alfalfa Sermons” are reaching home. 
The “nodule” on the root is the home or house of the 
tiny bacteria which help the plant by taking nitrogen 
out of the air. You may feed or lime the clover or 
Alfalfa and yet the nodules would not be found unless 
the bacteria were put in the soil and started. There 
is something analogous to this in the nodules which 
“grow on the roots of dishonest dealers.” There 
again we have bacteria, which take wisdom from the 
outside and store it up for the said dealer. For wis¬ 
dom is concentrated experience. Nearly every reader 
of The R. N.-Y. has been cheated or bunkoed in some 
OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY MADE GOOD. 
“Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, 
Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, 
For God is marching on!” 
That refrain was a favorite with soldiers during the 
Civil War. They sung it on hard marches through 
the storm, in camp with memories’of home, or when 
forming in line of battle. It expressed the hunger of 
the heart, the joy of victory, the stern hope which came 
out of defeat, as no other war song could. In his 
younger days Mr. Reed Verguson marched and fought 
in the service of his country, and sang this old chorus 
with a full heart. If you will turn back to page 729 
you will see how the old soldier was forced to go 
through the gloom and shadow of another desperate 
battle. It is no wonder that when this last fight was 
won the old war song was first to enter his mind. It 
came to him like a renewal of youth. Those who have 
followed Mr. Verguson’s efforts to obtain the money 
held up by E. G. Lewis will appreciate the following 
letter: 
I went to Towanda to the bank and made a draft for 
the interim receipt, $400 and interest, against E. G. Lewis. 
When leaving the bank the thought came to me to go to 
the post office for my mail, and to my surprise I found 
a letter from the People’s Loan & Trust Company enclos¬ 
ing check for the $415.1G. Well, I shouted “Glory! 
long live The Rural New-Yorker !” I shall work for it 
until the last roll call and taps are sounded. 
Yours fraternally, 
REED VERGUSON. 
This is a modern miracle. It is like squeezing blood 
out of a rock, or making figs grow upon thistles, to 
get a dollar out of that cash trap! You know the 
facts. This old soldier loaned Lewis $400 on a 10 
months’ note—18 months ago. It was trust money, 
invested through the tempting offer made by Lewis. 
When the note expired it was sent on for payment. 
Through the characteristic trick of the Lewis company 
it was not paid, but changed into an “interim receipt.” 
It seemed like easy picking to hold up and rob a poor 
old soldier without influence or friends. No attention 
whatever was paid to his pitiful prayer for help. The 
man who can cover square yards of paper with mushy 
nonsense and silly flattery to the Woman’s League 
members was willing to drive this old soldier to the 
verge of suicide because he' was supposed to be friend¬ 
less and alone! We do not believe there was any 
thought of paying Mr. Verguson until the hot iron of 
publicity burned through their thick hide. The high¬ 
wayman who takes your money at the point of a pistol, 
or the thug who stabs you in the back, is a gentleman 
beside a sleek and sanctimonious “dreamer” who will 
batten upon women and treat the poor and helpless as 
Mr. Verguson was treated! 
We thank God that The R. N.-Y. was able to force 
the payment of this claim. We cannot think of any 
. truer service that a farm paper can render than to 
lash robbers and frauds until they slink up like whipped 
curs and restore the plunder which they thought they 
had hidden as a dog hides a bone. No one will doubt 
that Mr. Verguson might have gone broken in heart 
and spirit to his grave, with his claim unsatisfied, had 
we not been able to publish this case in all its cruel 
details. That is what did the business. It was too 
much even for those smug publishers who are boom¬ 
ing and excusing Lewis. It even brought to their 
senses those emotional women who seem to regard 
Lewis as some great divine character. Those educa¬ 
tors and school managers who are lending name and 
reputation to give Lewis a cloak of respectability 
reached their limit in this case. With the damnable 
facts held right in their faces they saw that the old 
threadbare story of “bank assassination” or Govern¬ 
ment persecution would not hold water. It was a clear 
case of hold-up—a mean, vulger attempt at robbery of 
a helpless old soldier. Lewis himself would probably 
have tried to face it through and then squirm out of 
responsibility, but his backers and friends, less insane 
with “dreams” and visionary schemes, saw that he was 
cornered at last, and they forced him into action. 
When he did come he actually had the face to address 
his letter to “my dear Mr. Verguson.” 
We now want him to pay the other claims—of which 
we have 40 or more. Some of these cases are even 
worse than that of Mr. Verguson. Those publishers 
who are backing Lewis (for revenue) know the writ¬ 
ing is on the wall. All in good time they will be 
forced to stand up and interpret it. Those enthusi¬ 
astic women will soon see that their idol is wingless 
and made of very common clay. In the meantime all 
honest people will join with Mr. Verguson 
“Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, 
For God is marching on!” 
August 13, 
“A stand-patter” is a man who thinks everything 
his political boss does must be right. He wears the 
party label through thick and thin, and defends or 
excuses every political move right or wrong. He 
makes us think of a young tree where the label and 
the wire have not been taken off. As the tree grows 
the wire cuts into the bark and finally cuts so deep that 
the label hangs on a dead stick. The party label cuts 
into the “standpatter’s” mental and moral growth till 
he goes about like a wooden man—carrying the label 
of a party! 
* 
Whiting, the nurseryman! We are interested in 
the wanderings of this gentleman, and therefore appreci¬ 
ated the following letter: 
In last week’s paper we saw an article about Whiting, 
the nurseryman. Enclosed find order which we gave him 
the day before. Is this the same man, and what do you 
know about him? Do you think the order any good? He 
has done a great business in this town the past week. 
West Henrietta, N. Y. D 
This is the same, identical Whiting—the smoothest 
nursery agent who ever took the road. If fruit grow¬ 
ers ever erect a monument to the tree agent they will 
surely take Whiting for the model. The order has the 
old familiar face, with trees at extravagant prices. 
The wonder is that Whiting can go 30 miles away 
from Albion and do a “great business.” The follow¬ 
ing letter from West Rush, also in Monroe Co., N. Y., 
is more encouraging: 
I iicnd t\ biting called this afternoon selling nursery 
stock. Thank you for your advice in The R. N.-Y. n. 
It does not seem possible that any reader of The 
R- N.-\. can be induced to buy trees of Whiting. Fruit 
growers in Orleans County combined to refuse paying 
for his trees last Winter. I hey claimed misrepresen¬ 
tation through the extravagant stories told by Whiting, 
and few if any of them paid. We would not look at 
his trees or listen to his oratory. 
* 
Blood out of a stone.” It may seem impossible, 
but some of these fertilizer companies are trying it. 
There are several of them at work trying to sell 
ground rock of very ordinary quality. This is the 
season for using fertilizers for grass and grain seed¬ 
ing, and there are a number of fakers all cocked and 
primed to take a shot at the farmer’s pocketbook. They 
have a very plausible argument, and that is a request 
or challenge to buy one or two tons anyway and “test” 
the stuff. You see, if they can get several hundred 
or a thousand farmers to do this they will do all the 
business they need, and that is what they are after. 
“Mineral fertilizer,” “natural fertilizer,” “lava,” and 
half a dozen others will be offered this Fall. They 
all claim some remarkable quality which the analysis 
cannot explain. In one case about $10 a ton was de¬ 
manded for a “fertilizer ’ which contained about 20 
cents’ worth of such plant food as the station chemists 
recognize as being worth buying. The other $9.80 
represents some unexplained virtue which the manu¬ 
facturer carries in his imagination. The only safe 
way to buy fertilizers is on guaranteed analysis of 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash or lime. If you 
buy nitrogen at all our advice is to buy only available 
forms, and cut out the cheap stuff as you would sand 
in the sugar. 
BREVITIES. 
l.i i-.ry dollar spent for a fake means one more dollar for 
you to make. 
There is no finer or harder job than that of raising a 
boy or girl into a good man or woman. 
It will not help that Jerseyman with straw selling at 
$6 per ton to learn that hay sells in Alaska at $100, and 
eggs at $2 per dozen! 
As substitutes for tobacco wo hear of men who use 
diied leaves of potato and tomato in their pipes. The 
Wonderberry may have virtues in this line. 
The flyaway commission man and sundry other gents 
can make consumers’ dollars resemble 30 cents. And 
when the good old farmer gets his fingers on the price_ 
he has to strain his eyesight to recognize the slice. ; 
On page 754 a blacksmith asked if he could find a place 
and make a living on a farm. Several people are after 
him at once. Such men have something more than a mes¬ 
sage for farmers. A good trade is a sure card of admis¬ 
sion. 
The latest apparent boom for Florida is the claim for 
Eucalyptus trees. It is said that a substitute for ma¬ 
hogany can be grown there. The U. S. Government is 
testing trees and soils in Florida, hut it is too early to 
start any ‘'boom.’’ We get into this game early with 
warning. 
Many a farmer in a season like this one regrets that he 
ever plowed under a “cover crop.” It was put under and 
not packed down. It dried out at the first sign of drought 
and no moisture has been able to rise through it. Had it 
been packed and crushed down hard it would have held 
water. As it is it gave water up. 
The extent of the present drought is indicated by this 
little report from C. C. Ilulsart of Monmouth County, 
N. J.: “I have seen droughts by the score, but never one 
that would exceed what we are going through now. In 
my young apple orchard 10 years old, on a gravelly 
s’ope eight or ten trees are dying. I saw wild rasp¬ 
berry bushes along a bank this morning practically dead, 
privet hedges are also dying.” 
