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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 7, 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE B V SIS'ESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal i'#r Country anti Suburban Homes 
Established is:,o 
Published weekly by (he Kiirnl Publishing Company, 3,13 West noth Street, New York 
ITerbf.kt TV. Comjng’.vood, President and Editor. 
John' J. Diu-on, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. DrLLON, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. RoYle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. {J2.01. equal to 8s. Od., or 
8)4 marks, or 10)4 francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates fiO 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¬ 
sible p.uson. But to make doubly sure we will make good any loss to paid 
subsc. ibers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler 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 trilling differences 
between subscribers and honest, responsible 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, and you must have mentioned The Rural New-Yorker 
when writing the advertiser. 
TEN WEEKS FOR 10 CENTS. 
In order to maintain the improvement and enlarge¬ 
ments that \ve are now planning for The It. N.-Y., 
we should have a circulation of 200.000 copies week¬ 
ly. We must depend on our old friends for this in¬ 
crease. To make it easy for these friends to intro¬ 
duce the paper to other farmers who do not now 
take it we will send it 10 weeks for 10 cents for 
strictly introductory purposes. We will appreciate 
the interest of friends who help make up the needed 
increase of subscriptions. 
* 
Wiiat does an apple orchard cost? 
That question is repeatedly asked by men who 
are considering fruit growing as a business invest¬ 
ment. They can get figures regarding nearly every 
other line of business. What about an orchard? 
We think Mr. Burritt’s figures are accurate. Some 
of the “boomers” will say they know men who 
have done much better and established orchards 
for less money. We are content to let the “boom¬ 
ers” blow themselves elsewhere. We want fair and 
honest statements, and Mr. Burritt’s figures may be 
accepted as such. We would like to have them 
compared by men who have kept books, and can 
tell just what has happened in the orchard. 
* 
At the State Fruit Growers’ meeting at Pough¬ 
keepsie, the president, L. L. Morrell, made this state¬ 
ment : 
We have two classes of men Yvithin our ranks who 
have been serious drawbacks to us in our work in get¬ 
ting bills through the Legislature. These are the timid 
man who will not stand up for what he really ought to 
have, and the man who is continually asking for what 
he ought not to have. 
Mr. Morrell is right. The timid man and the man 
who wants everything are to be found in every effort 
to obtain legislation. The politicians know how to 
make capital out of both of them. They bluff the 
timid man, so he does not dare to say a word, and 
they point to the extremist to prove “that those 
farmers want the earth.” Both classes of men should 
get together for what is fair and fall in behind their 
leaders with whole-hearted support. 
* 
I read with amazement on page 257 of The R. N.-Y. 
that “it is hard to say definitely just why sweet pota¬ 
toes should be so low at this time.” We are only a hun¬ 
dred miles from Vineland, and our town borders on New 
Jersey. A local grocer charged me 10 cents a quart 
for sweet potatoes to-day, and he would have fainted 
had I asked for a peck or a bushel. I pay $1.25 a 
bushel for Irish potatoes. You will have to lower your 
35-cent dollar, I think. albert c. mayiiam. 
Orange Co., N. Y. 
Still there are people who say there is no such 
thing as a 35-cent dollar. Here at one end of the 
line sweet potatoes are so cheap that farmers are 
seriously considering giving up their culture. At 
the same time, 100 miles away this man is paying 
10 cents a quart! It is true that in some individual 
eases the margin between producer’s and consumer’s 
price is small. For example, we are told that 
many gallons of milk are sold here at five cents or 
less per quart. True, but this is not the price to 
the final consumer. A restaurant may pay five 
cents for a quart of milk and sell it in three 
glasses to consumers at five cents a glass. This 
15 cents is the consumer's price. When we talk 
about the 35-cent dollar we give the average. When 
one man shows that lie gets 95 cents of the dollar 
we can match him with another who had to pay 
the commission man, since his produce did not 
bring enough to pay for freight and cartage. 
* 
This seems to be one of those years when certain 
fruit growers think they can get along without 
spraying. These seasons come periodically. This 
year it seems to be the parasite which is to clean out 
the scale. In other years it was reported that the 
scale was “dying out” or “weakening.” We must 
confess with some shame that a few years ago we 
listened to the tempter and did little spraying. It 
was an expensive play with temptation. The scale 
woke up in June and did great damage to the crop. 
Never again ! We cannot possibly impress upon our 
friends too strongly the folly of giving up spraying. 
Do not under any circumstances whatever listen to 
the false prophets who tell you the scale will take 
care of itself or be destroyed without careful work 
on your part. Take it from us that if you do you 
will be sure to regret it. We do not tell you what 
to use or what outfit to buy—leave that to your busi¬ 
ness judgment—but be sure to fit yourself out with 
strong power and fixtures and plenty of material, 
and then “go to it!” 
* 
Under “The Home Acre” this week you will find 
plans for beautifying a small place. Next week 
there will he similar plans for arranging yard and 
flowers around a farmhouse. Such work will be 
made a prominent feature of Tite R. N.-Y. in the 
future. We are prepared to suggest plans, give 
estimates and name suitable shrubs and trees for 
any location. This idea of “fixing up” and beautify¬ 
ing the home grounds at moderate cost is a fine 
thing for farmers to consider. A good lawn and 
garden will make the farm home brighter and better, 
and also add to the value of the farm. There is no 
question about the latter proposition. Arranging 
the home grounds in good taste is like grading up 
the herd with pure blood. We can give you the prac¬ 
tical advice of a skilled landscape gardener, and it 
will be a pleasure to help beautify that yard. In 
years past we have given thousands of climbing 
rose bushes to our readers. You ought to see them 
now in blooming time, giving a great dash of color 
to many a farmhouse. Now we want to help beau¬ 
tify the yard. 
* 
The Supreme Court has struck the Pure Food 
laws a hard blow in a recent decision. A question 
of vital importance came before the Court in the 
“bleached flour” case. In this case the Government 
sued the Lexington Mill Co. because it used nitrogen 
peroxide for bleaching flour. The mill company ad¬ 
mitted using this poisonous gas, and also admitted 
that the flour contained a small quantity of the 
poison. The defence was that there was not enough 
of this poison to be injurious. On this evidence the 
lower court decided for the Government. Now the 
Supreme Court has reversed this ruling. This court 
claims, in effect, that before a food manufacturer 
can be punished for poisoning food it must lie shown 
that there is enough of the poison in the food to 
actually prove dangerous to health! Thus hereafter 
the Government will be at the disadvantage of being 
compelled to satisfy the court that there is enough 
poison present to kill a human being. Think of the 
difficulty of doing this while the food poisoners are 
able to buy and control the testimony of doctors and 
scientists from great universities with their poisoned 
dollars. It may be necessary to kill an army of 
men with this poisoned food before the court will 
be convinced that it is “injurious.” Even then the 
poisoners can hire “experts” to show that the dead 
men died “from want of breath” or some other 
“obscure” cause. This decision is a hard blow at 
a useful law. No use blaming the Supreme Court. 
Congress is the place for our fight. Let us get after 
Congress to change and strengthen the pure food 
law, so as to prohibit the use of all poisons in food. 
* 
We find that some fruit growers are quietly 
starting what they call a lightning Babcock test for 
nursery trees. These men cut scions from the trees 
as they came from the nursery—taking pains to 
preserve the labels and keep the records straight. 
These scions are used for grafting on strong, well- 
matured trees. A careful “map” is made of this 
testing tree, and when this grafting wood produces 
fruit they can tell about the “misfits” several 
years ahead of the old plan of waiting for the 
young trees to bear. Of course it is necessary to 
use the best of judgment in doing this work, but it 
gives a good line on the quality of the nursery 
stock. 
* 
Parcel tost is in real danger. Its success thus 
far has sent the old bloodhounds after it. The 
Senate Committee on Post Offices has adopted the 
following proposed amendment: 
And provided father that there shall he no changes in 
the existing weight limits, rates of postage or zones of 
fourth-class mail matter until authorized by law. 
The object of this is to cripple the parcel post 
system. Under the present law the Postmaster 
General need not go to Congress and ask for every 
little change on rates, weight or service. Within 
certain limits he may go ahead and improve the 
service when lie finds it necessary. The present 
Postmaster General is in favor of rapidly extend¬ 
ing the system—increasing the weight limit and 
decreasing rates. Let him alone and he will com¬ 
pete with the express companies and improve the 
service. The proposed amendment would absolutely 
destroy the power of parcel post to compete with 
the express companies. These companies would 
succeed in capturing all the profitable traffic. We 
all remember what a struggle we had in obtaining 
the present parcel post. Let this amendment be 
carried and the fight will be harder than ever, be¬ 
cause Congress will refuse to change rates and thus 
play right into the hands of the express companies. 
The same old “careful consideration” Congressmen 
are working this scheme. There is nothing to do 
but bring out the inkstand and lick a stamp for 
parcel post. Get right after your Congressman and 
Senators at once and ask them to help kill that 
amendment. 
* 
It is true enough, as the Governor says, that there 
is already sufficient law to authorize co-operation in the 
marketing of farm products. The only question remain¬ 
ing is whether the State should spend anywhere from 
$25,000 to $50,000 in paying organizers to help the 
farmers do what they ought to bo able to do for them¬ 
selves. No one will doubt the value to the farmer and 
the consumer alike of co-operation in rural districts for 
the shipment of agricultural products to cities and 
towns; but this educational process might very well be 
made the business of organizations in which farmers are 
already interested, rather than the business of the State. 
This is taken from the Brooklyn Eagle, referring 
to Governor Glynn’s call for legislation to provide 
for organizing farmers into cooperative marketing 
groups. It represents the feeling held by many city 
people regarding farm education. They do not 
object when the nation or State spends money in 
telling farmers how to produce more food. That 
may mean cheaper food for them, and they favor 
it regardless of its effect upon the producers. Such 
people think the farmers ought to be satisfied with 
the education in production as their share and let 
manufacturers, railroads and other interests take 
tariffs, subsidies and special privilege. Thus Yvhen 
an effort is made to give the farmers needed busi¬ 
ness training such people as we have mentioned 
object though they must admit the need of such 
education. The fact is, that every civilized nation 
of Europe has recognized the necessity of organiz¬ 
ing its farmers for business purposes. New York 
State is not attempting a new thing, but is making 
a belated start at a necessary reform. 
BREVITIES. 
You are right—whou the head of the house gets 
into trouble it is a case of parboiled. 
Honest, now, do you think a farm without any gar¬ 
den a good place to hold a child to farm life? 
It lias been found that the same germ which causes 
a disease on the leaves of nasturtiums also causes a dis¬ 
ease on sugar beet. 
“Wood-pile day” is in order. No one can compute 
the sickness and trouble found in country homes—due 
to a lack of dry fuel. 
The great test of character is not so much Yvliat we 
say about people as what we would like to say and yet 
keep ourselves from saying it. 
Tiie Department of Agriculture reports that many 
horses have died of blind staggers, caused by eating 
moldy baled hay. When this hay was opened up to the 
sun there was no further bad effect. 
A bill has been introduced in the Noyv York Legis¬ 
lature to compel baking-powder manufacturers to mark 
on each can "a statement of ail of the ingredients con¬ 
tained in the powder and the amount of available leav¬ 
ening gas in cubic inches.” 
The demand for information about lime continues. 
The New York Experiment Station at Geneva has is¬ 
sued Circular No. 27 on “Ground Limestone for Soil 
Improvement.” It is an excellent pamphlet, which will 
answer many of your questions. 
Reference is made in the report of the Western N. 
1". Horticultural Society to the fact that contact with 
strong tobacco extract used in spraying may cause 
nausea, being in fact slight nicotine poisoning. The 
florists’ remedy for this is hot black coffee. 
William Robinson, the famous English horticultural 
authority, writing to the London Times, says that the 
best apples in the world are American apples, and the 
best variety of all is the Newtown Pippin, which he 
uses six months of the year. 
The chestnut hark blight is referred to on page 334 
as Endotkia parasitica. We have previously referred to 
it as Diaporthe parasitica, while a still later authority 
calls it Yalsonectria. It remains equally destructive 
under all these impressive names. 
Within the past few days at least a dozen people 
write that they are mixing the hen manure with wood 
ashes and think they are doing a fine thing. So they 
are—putting a fine upon themselves by losing the am¬ 
monia in the hen manure. We did think we had made 
that one point clear. 
The Department of Agriculture suggests a course at 
an agricultural college as a better prize for hoys and 
girls’ contests than trips to Washington. A sensible 
suggestion. We question the value of carrying a crowd 
of hoys about on a junket trip. 
