430 
THE RURAL. NRW-YOR 1< RR 
March 14, 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
As Spring approaches the “horse gyp” 
will be on the lookout for his usual har¬ 
vest—his advertisements are in some of 
the daily papers. It is to the credit of a 
few of the New York city dailies that 
this class of dealers cannot buy adver¬ 
tising space in their columns. You will 
recognize these “horse gyps” by the 
earmarks on their advertisements. To 
allay suspicion they advertise as “Ex¬ 
press Company’s Stables,” “Brewery Sta¬ 
ble,” “Railroad Stables,” “Ice Company 
Stables,” etc. The advertisements give 
the impression that good horses are al¬ 
most given away in New York city and 
a 30-day trial allowed. The more liberal 
the offers the greater need there is to be¬ 
ware of the advertiser. We have exposed 
their methods often and we hope no read¬ 
er of The R. N.-Y. will become a victim 
of the “horse gyps” or “automobiles gyps” 
this season. 
There is a man travelling through 
here claiming to represent, or rather 
own, David Rising Seed Co., Easton, Pa., 
selling potatoes at $3 per bushel, seed 
corn $6 per bushel, etc. He wants the 
money at once, or before he sends the 
goods. Is there such a firm, and reliable, 
or is it a humbug? I did not bite, and 
do not intend to; but some of my neigh¬ 
bors ordered goods for $50 to $100. He 
claims to own farms in different States, 
and raised 4,000 bushels of potatoes. 
Pennsylvania. o. F. B. 
We do not know the David Rising 
Seed Cl, and we fail to find any such 
concern listed in the reference books 
open to us. It is a pretty safe rule to 
avoid agents going about the country 
telling big stories about seeds, plants, or 
trees, and selling them at fabulous prices. 
You have no assurance that the seeds 
offered by such agents are reliable, and 
there is no question that you can buy 
better seeds from the most reliable houses 
in the business at less than half the cost. 
Our contention is that farmers cannot 
afford to take chances on planting such 
seeds if they cost nothing. 
Can you advise me as to the reliability 
of Robert J. Gunson & Co., seed grow¬ 
ers and importers, Rochester, N. Y.? 
New York. n. h. b. 
These agency houses invariably have 
some new and wonderful variety of oats, 
corn, etc., which no one ever heard of 
before, We know of no variety of seed 
introduced by these agency seed houses 
that is being generally grown at the pres¬ 
ent time. But from year to year farm¬ 
ers are asked to pay extravagant prices 
for unknown varieties by these agents. 
It is important in the purchasing of 
seeds to entrust your order only to houses 
with an established reputation for relia¬ 
bility and fair dealing. This is one of 
the several concerns in Rochester selling 
seeds on the agency system. From the 
reports that come to us of the stories 
told by these seed agents, they have the 
nursery agents beat a mile when it comes 
to handing out the pure unadulterated 
variety of “guff.” 
Claude J. Van Slyke, president of the 
New York Central Realty Company, and 
James A. Robinson, treasurer of that 
concern, pleaded guilty before Judge 
Hollister in the United States District 
Court to-day of using the mails to de¬ 
fraud in the sale of $500,000 of the com¬ 
pany’s worthless bonds. William Cooper, 
organizer of the concern and its first 
president, was indicted with Van Slyke 
and Robinson in August, 1912, by the 
Federal Grand Jury. The company sold 
$470,000 worth of 6 per cent, gold bonds 
to 800 investors. 
It was further revealed that the prop¬ 
erty owned by the company was worth 
$35,000 and that it was mortgaged to 
the Windsor Trust Company for $498,- 
000. The running expenses of the con¬ 
cern, it is alleged, amounted to $92,000, 
chiefly because of the high salaries paid 
to its officers. Cooper, it is said, got 
$12,000 per annum and Van Slyke $4,500 
a year as secretary and $10,000 as presi¬ 
dent of the company. Robinson got 
$7,500 as treasurer and $6,000 in com¬ 
missions. A loan of $67,000 was con¬ 
tracted at one time from Bloomingdale 
Brothers and of this it is alleged that 
$8,000 went in the payment of commis¬ 
sions. In 1909, it is alleged, it bought a 
tract of land near Providence, R. I., and 
another near Rye, N. Y., for $5,000 cash 
and $10,000 in the bonds of the company. 
The title to this property was taken in 
the name of the Tuekahoe Lime & Lum¬ 
ber Company, another subsidiary, and 
later entered on the New York Central 
Company’s books as worth $1,000,000. 
Cooper was voted a bonus of $200,000 
for the acquisition of this land. The com¬ 
pany also acquired title to a tract in the 
Hackensack meadows for $1,500 and 
mortgaged it for $350,000 in 1910. All 
these transactions were duly embodied 
in the company’s reports to its stock¬ 
holders, purporting to show that the con¬ 
cern’s assets amounted to $1,856,988.— 
Local Paper. 
I wonder whether readers see the 
points of similarity in all these schemes? 
Note an original company and two sub¬ 
sidiary companies; land mortgaged for 
25 times its value in one case and 233 
times its value in another case; big 
salaries and commissions to the pro¬ 
moters, and a responsible trust company 
willing to lend its name by certifying to 
the mortgages without knowing or caring 
about the value of the mortgages. Some 
of the promoters will probably go to jail 
for a few months, but precious little good 
that will do the people who have lost 
their money. This is a very small edi¬ 
tion of the E. G. Lewis scheme at St. 
Louis, but except as to size and details 
the schemes were similar. In that case 
William Redfield, now Secretary of Com¬ 
merce, regretted, so he said, that he was 
not in on the deal. He did not say 
whether he would have preferred to be 
in as a promoter or as a sucker. But 
if the latter, he certainly missed another 
opportunity here at home. Mr. Redfield 
and Representatives Ashbrook of Ohio 
and McCoy of New Jersey, gave more 
encouragement to crooks than any other 
three men that we have known in public 
life. They kept Lewis out of jail, which 
seemed to be their object at the time, but 
the courts go on convicting an occasional 
Lewis imitator. We regret to see Mr. 
Redfield lose so many similar opportuni¬ 
ties. If he has no preference for the 
promoter end of the game, he certainly 
ought to be able to get on some of the 
sucker lists. 
On June 21, 1913, we sent money 
order for $3.05 to the Fruitman and 
Gardener of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, for one 
year’s subscription. 1913-1914, to “The 
Outlook” and “Fruitman and Gardener,” 
at the latter’s club rates. In August we 
received a letter from The Outlook re¬ 
questing our subscription. We wrote 
them both explaining the matter, but re¬ 
ceived no reply from tne Fruitman and 
Gardener. The postmaster traced and 
advised us the check was cashed by the 
F. & G. at Mt. Vernon, June 26, 1913. 
We wrote them to that effect, but no 
reply. The Outlook has no subscription 
credited to us on the books, and the ques¬ 
tion is who has the money. The F. & 
G. is evidently still on earth, for we 
receive it. w. F. j. 
Michigan. 
We wrote The Outlook people and re¬ 
ceived the following letter: 
We have your letter of January 27 in 
which you ask us if we received an order 
last June from the “Fruitman and 
Gardener” for a subscription to “The 
Outlook” in the name of W. F. J. We 
have not received this remittance. 
After writing four letters to the “Fruit¬ 
man and Gardener” we received the fol¬ 
lowing reply on January 30: 
Your letters to us go in the waste 
basket. Consequently they are wholly 
and entirely a waste of stamps. If any¬ 
one had any complaint in regard to treat¬ 
ment received by us this is the place for 
them to leave it. lloyd mccutciieon. 
The publisher of Fruitman and Gar¬ 
dener ignores the fact that W. F. J. did 
write him and could get no reply. This 
treatment of a customer may be very 
gratifying to a self-complacent publish¬ 
er, but if our observation is worth any¬ 
thing it is not a promise of success in the 
field of periodical journalism, j. j. d. 
Mustard for Hens. 
Of what use is French mustard, dry, 
for hens? In what quantity would you 
use it and with what? c. H. B. 
Cold Spring Harbor, N. H. 
I would not use mustard, or other 
condiments, in any quantity, as a poultry 
food or tonic. It is a common practice 
to add mustard or pepper to foods with 
the idea that they “stimulate” the diges¬ 
tive organs of fowls. These condiments 
contain essential oils which are irritating 
to the mucous surfaces with which they 
come in contact and produce a sensation 
of warmth, and if too long continued, of 
pain; but irritation is not stimulation, 
and does not promote the digestion and 
assimilation of food, without which eggs 
cannot be made or body warmth pro¬ 
moted. As condiments to stimulate the 
jaded palates of humans who have so 
dulled their organs of taste by long con¬ 
tinued use of highly seasoned foods that 
they cannot appreciate a mild tlavor, they 
are all right, but don’t inflict them upon 
hens whose simple tastes do not call for 
French dressings. m. b. d. 
For Value Received . . . $1785 
A full forty-five horse power motor built in the Apperson Way— 
T-Head cylinders cast separately. Oiling and cooling systems that 
conserve the power of the engine and get it to the rear wheels —not 
into the muffler. A patented contracting band clutch that won’t slip, 
won’t grab, and needs no attention. 
These are a few of the real merits. The one-hundred-cents- 
on-the-dollar proved-efficient values in every 
Apperson “Jack Rabbit” Four Forty-five 
"The Wizard of the Hills” 
Our overhead expense is low. Every officer in the company 
holds an active position. There is no “deadwood.’’ No fancy 
salaries paid to do-nothing officers and dummy directors. 
Our production is relatively small. Never will wo permit it to reach the 
point where quantity interferes with quality. The efforts of a know-how 
organization are concentrated on a limited number of cars—all most important 
factors in the right manufacture of a service-giving car at this within-reach- 
and-reason price of §1785.00. 
The illustration above gives but a faint idea of the car’s graceful 
beauty. Get in touch with our distributor nearest you and see it. Prove 
for yourself by actual road work its power, speed, and smooth running 
qualities—that in it there are units of value to the full amount of the 
purchase price. Or write us direct for Complete Art Catalog showing as 
well the Light Four Forty-five at $1600.00; the Six Forty-five-fifty-eight 
at $2200.00, 
Apperson Bros. Automobile Co. 
322 Main Street, Kokomo, Indiana 
APPERSON DISTRIBUTORS IN NEW YORK 
Brooklyn, Farrell Auto Co. New York City, Shepherd Auto Co,, Ine. 
Elmira, J. F. Khodes A Son ltocheater, F. Forsehet 
MAKEYOUROLDAUTO 
LOOK NEW FOR S6.50 
Get the ORIGINAL IDEAL PACKAGE. A complete outfit 
of 15 articles for repainting and retinishing a Ford 
or other car of similar size. Experience unneces¬ 
sary-paint it today; use it tomorrow. Write for 
leaflet. For sale at any accessory shop or 
HANLINE BROS., Paint Makers, BALTIMORE, MD. 
BOOKS WORTH BUYING 
The Rose, Parsons. 1.00 
Plant Diseases, Massee... 1.60 
Landscape Gardening, Maynard.... 1.50 
Clovers, Shaw. 1.00 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
333 WEST 30th ST., NEW YORK. 
mm 
Good Concrete Work 
The quality of all concrete work is largely dependent 
upon the quality of the cement. The standard ingredients— 
clean sharp sand, gravel and water—need no special care in 
selecting. But because of the importance of cement, you 
should be most careful in its choice. 
To be sure of good concret e work —select 
PORTLAND 
CEMENT 
LEHIGH 
Good quality in cement is determined by its tensile strength. 
We endow “Lehigh”—by our scientific process—with a tensile 
strength that is unusually high. 
This tensile strength in Lehigh increases with age. It gives to the struc¬ 
ture greater power as time goes on and forestalls deterioration. 
Better write for ‘ : The Modern Farmer,” our book that explains 
Lehigh quality and shows how to build concrete foundations and 
other concrete structures. 
Lehigh Portland Cement Co. 
401 Young Bldg., Allentown, Pa. 
104 Consumers Bldg., Chicago, Ill. 
Build concrete foundation* 
for house, barn or corncribs. 
They last forever, withstand 
greatest strain and ere fireproof 
and ratproof. 
