760 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 30, 
THE CO OPERATIVE CONFERENCE. 
At the request of Commissioner Iluson, 
a conference was held at the State Agri¬ 
cultural Department in Albany, on May 
20th to discuss methods of organization 
of farm cooperative associations and com¬ 
panies. The men who attended were 
largely from the membership of the State 
Standing Committee on Cooperation and 
for the most part farmers from the fields 
and leaders in cooperative companies in 
their home towns. Their interest in the 
work is testified to in the fact that at 
this busy season, they leave their farm 
work, pay their own expense to Albany, 
and respond to the request of the com¬ 
missioner to help the State in the de¬ 
velopment of cooperation work which it 
has undertaken. 
The sense of the meeting as definitely 
and concisely expressed was that the 
Bureaus of Farm Institutes and County 
Agents where organized, should discuss 
and encourage cooperation as an educa¬ 
tional function of their work. Directors 
Van Alstyne and Burritt both favored 
this policy, realizing that selling of his 
products is often a more important and 
more difficult problem to the farmer than 
the growing of them. 
(2) That the special organizers that go 
out at the request of local communities to 
help organize cooperative companies be 
required to demonstrate their qualifica¬ 
tions by passing an examination on co¬ 
operative organization and economics be¬ 
fore being assigned to the work. 
(3) That the representatives of the 
Department should continue to help build 
up and develop organizations once 
formed, where their services are further 
needed and required, as well as initiate 
new associations. 
(4) That the Department should de¬ 
vise a simple and uniform system of 
bookkeeping and accounting and instruct 
local officers, where needed, in the open¬ 
ing of accounts. 
At the request of Commissioner Iluson 
a committee consisting of Prof. G. N. 
Bauman of Cornell University, C. It. 
White, Ionia, Seth Bush, Rochester and 
C. C. Mitchell, Millbrook, were appointed 
a committee to advise with the Commis¬ 
sion and Director Cole, and to assist 
them in formulating rules to govern in 
carrying out the recommendations and 
the work as a whole. 
Mr. Fred Sessions of Utica was se¬ 
lected as chairman of the conference; 
and it is only just to say that we have 
never attended a meeting of any class of 
business men where the speakers so close¬ 
ly confined themselves to the purpose to 
be accomplished. The discussions were 
directed to the question in hand and the 
problems were handled with uniform 
earnestness and intelligence. This work 
is not being inspired by a sudden burst 
of enthusiasm. These men expect diffi¬ 
culties and trials and troubles just as 
they always have in their homes and 
farms and families and business. They 
do not expect or promise miracles. They 
know to be permanent and beneficial the 
development must be slow and gradual. 
But they know they can accomplish 
things through cooperation that they can¬ 
not do individually, and as a matter of 
fact with less difficulty for the company 
than each separate farmer now en¬ 
counters individually. Their minds are 
made up and their purpose is set; and 
the work is going forward. You will 
not see any miracles. No man will be 
able to sell poor goods for big prices; 
but five years from now when you look 
back to the records you are making to¬ 
day, you will see such a change in the 
marketing of farm products and in the 
purchase of farm supplies that you will 
wonder how we ever tolerated present 
methods. 
Montgomery County Farm Bureau. 
The Directors of the Montgomery 
County Farm Bureau engaged Mr. Allen 
8. Merchant as their county agent. Mr. 
Merchant was born and raised on a farm 
in Western New York, where he per¬ 
formed all kinds of manual farm labor. 
He took the four years’ course in agri¬ 
culture at the New r Jersey State College. 
Mr. Merchant has addressed IS Farm 
Bureau meetings on bureau work, has 
held two oat treatments for smut demon¬ 
strations, one orchard pruning demonstra¬ 
tion, has helped to prune several orchards, 
showing the farmer how the work should 
be done; has made many personal visits 
to farms, giving information on many 
farm matters; he has secured for the 
county two Community Schools in Agri¬ 
culture to be held next December ; he has 
written a booklet on the Plans and Pur¬ 
poses of the Montgomery County Farm 
Bureau, which will be ready to go for¬ 
ward in the mail within a week. Every 
farmer in the county will be sent one of 
these booklets. The cooperation of more 
than 25 farmers has been secured in 
demonstrating the use of nitrate of soda 
on farm crops. One farmer is carrying 
out a demonstration in fertilizer chemi¬ 
cals on quite an extensive scale, to deter¬ 
mine the elements of plant food the soil 
needs most, and just how profitable differ¬ 
ent fertilizer chemicals will be applied to 
different crops, compared with goods pur¬ 
chased ready mixed. Other farmers are 
cooperating in the growing of hay, Al¬ 
falfa, potato tuber unit selection and hill 
selection. 
Canadian Fruit Outlook. 
The Department of Agriculture at Ot¬ 
tawa states that in Nova Scotia fruit 
trees have come through the Winter in 
good condition, with prospect of a heavy 
set of bloom. British Columbia has had 
a very mild Winter, and all fruits prom¬ 
ise favorably. In the peach sections of 
Ontario considerable damage has been 
done by the severe weather of January 
and February, following a mild early 
Winter. The outlook is that throughout 
the entire Niagara peninsula the peach 
crop will be the lightest in 25 years. 
Monroe County, New York. 
As everywhere else in the State, the 
season has been a backward one in West¬ 
ern New York. On May 15 many farm¬ 
ers had not yet sown oats. At Beechwood 
Farm we have given up this crop this 
season, experience having taught us that 
not one year in five is the crop a profit¬ 
able one when sown after the first week 
in May. Grass and wheat never looked 
better at this time of year. April was 
almost an ideal month for both crops. 
The old meadows have a good start, too, 
and there will be a rank growth of grass 
to turn under before all are plowed for 
beans and corn. We have about 10 acres 
of our bean ground plowed at this writing 
(May 19). Early plowing and good till¬ 
age before planting is half the battle 
against weeds and drought. Peas for the 
canners are very late planted this year, 
and the chances of their proving a paying 
crop this season are small indeed. I would 
rather plant beans instead. Not in my 
memory has there been a more complete 
“clean up” of peaches; 90 per cent of 
the growers will not have enough of this 
fruit for table use. Only close along the 
lake shore and in especially favored loca¬ 
tions is there promise of a crop. The 
total will not amount to more than 5 per 
cent to 10 per cent of last year’s yield. 
Pears are blossoming fairly well, plums 
heavily, and apples, young and old of 
nearly all varieties, give promise of the 
heaviest crop in many years. M. c. n. 
Agriculturally everything is opening up 
nicely in the West. Corn is going in this 
week with the soil in the very best condi¬ 
tion ; a little dry earlier, but two or three 
inches of rain Sunday night has relieved 
that situation. There will be a great 
crop of Winter wheat, and I think also of 
corn, in all sections that were drought- 
stricken last year. This is only history 
repeating itself. That drought in Kansas 
Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri and South¬ 
ern Iowa pulverized the soil a couple of 
feet deep, so to speak, plowed it with the 
great drought-plow and compacted it at 
the same time, so that it takes up a great 
amount of moisture without swelling the 
streams. Under these conditions we should 
have a great crop. The fruit in that sec¬ 
tion, however, will likely be a partial 
failure, because of the effect of the 
drought of last year on the coming fruit 
buds. HENRY WALLACE. 
Butter IS; eggs IT; potatoes GO; ap¬ 
ples $1; wheat 90; corn 90 cents per 
hundred pounds. A. Y. s. 
Bringhurst, Ind. 
May 1G.—We are having a very late 
season up here in the Worcester country 
hills. Doing our first plowing to-day. 
Plum and cherry trees in bloom ; peach 
trees just coming in leaf; not a sign yet 
of apple or peach blossoms—in fact, ac¬ 
cording to my diary, just 20 days later 
than last year. Currant and berry bush¬ 
es look well. Cattle have been out to 
pasture 10 days. It has been cold and 
wet, so the grass is in abundance, and 
looks like a big hay crop. We have 
spread a big lot of fertilizer and chemi¬ 
cals this year, and want to spray for 
Codling moths to-morrow if the wind will 
let us: have had terrible winds all Spring. 
Hay $20; cows $35 to $125; horses most¬ 
ly automobiles. c. b. h. 
Petersham, Mass. 
May 1G.—Good cows are soiling from 
$60 to $S0; fair to good $35 to $50. 
Milk at Whiting’s $1.25 per 100 pounds 
for test 4 per cent. Potatoes $2.10 per 
180 pounds. No apples last year in this 
section. Eggs 20, New York price, to-day 
for strictly fresh at this station. Good 
calves eight cents per pound. Hay $18 to 
$20 per ton. No garden crop; too far 
from market. f. m. b. 
West Cambridge, N. Y. 
The late Spring and much wet weather 
has been delaying the farm work here, 
but crops promise to be abundant. Wheat 
looks especially fine, and a good liay-crop 
is now assured. Early potatoes are well 
started, and the late varieties are nearly 
all planted. Tobacco plants are well 
started, and setting out will begin about 
May 20. The acreage will be less than 
last season. The peach buds did not suf¬ 
fer from frosts to the extent that earlier 
reports had it, and a fair crop is expected. 
Cherries will be abundant and the later 
fruits promise fair. Fat cattle are now 
moving to market at good prices for good 
quality. A lot of 15 steers was recently 
shipped from Quarryville for New York 
that averaged 1,561 pounds at nine cents 
on board cars, Quarryville. The average 
weight when stabled was 1,107 pounds. 
Lancaster Co., I*a. b. a. r. 
Fruit crop very promising, strawberries 
in full bloom, raspberries good but win¬ 
ter-killed badly. Fair crop of peaches; 
pears and apples are good, likewise 
plums. Grapes and dewberries in the 
Italian settlements south of us are fair. 
Atco, N. J. n. E. v. 
We have a truck farm with a vineyard 
and apple trees. Potatoes averaged 
through Winter 70; cabbage 82 to 85 per 
cwt.; squash 50 cents to $1 per cwt. 
Butter, country, 30: creamery. 40 to 45; 
eggs 20 ; hens 18; Spring chicken 38 and 
40 cents, wholesale. Cows sell from $40 
to $75; calves 10 to 11 per lb.; hogs, 10 
to 11. Young pigs, $5 to $8 per pair. 
Wheat $1.10; corn 50. e. m. 
Beltsville, Md. 
May 13. Some oats are sown on dry 
spots; some have sown by hand who 
meant to drill them but many who got 
their ground plowed in the Fall to get 
their oats in early, have not been able to 
get on it yet. It is too wet to get man¬ 
ure on the planting ground, and is a 
bother when trying to make fence, as 
water fills the hole when digging for end 
posts, and dirt caves in. The parasite 
for San Josd scale does not seem to have 
reached us yet, I had a young plum or¬ 
chard with some scale on it last Spring, 
and we started to spray it, but the wind 
drove us out, and we did not get at it 
again: the scale spread very fast, and 
has killed the trees wherever it is thick 
on them. Peach buds killed, plums and 
other fruits blooming and all right. 
Waterford, N. Y. m. f. 
I devote my time to raising fruit. 
This year it looks as if we will have a 
large crop of peaches. The fruit busi¬ 
ness has become an epidemic; it is being 
distributed by the Agricultural Depart¬ 
ment for the benefit of the consumer in 
in a year of plenty. The Department 
has caused many persons to plant trees 
on ground or locations not adapted to 
fruit culture. When everything is 
favorable those trees produce enough 
fruit to lower the price so there is a 
very small margin of profit. I cannot 
see where the Department is helping the 
farmer. It is making new offices with 
nice fat salaries attached for a lot of 
glib-tongued individuals who if put to 
work with their own brains and capital 
would make a failure. I bumped up 
against one of them who did not know 
me and was surprised, so was he when 
we parted. In my opinion we don’t need 
them when we have practical men giving 
their experience in papers like Tiie R. 
N.-Y. Last year had things my own 
way, as I was the only grower who had 
any peaches to speak of, sold direct to 
consumer. Elberta a full crop and finest 
I ever saw; they averaged $1.75 per 
basket, sold some for $2.50 per basket. 
Looking fine this year; I consider them 
the finest peach for the bank account. 
New Pen, Pa. g. w. w. 
Catching Sparrows in the Night. 
Having read your article on page 618 
regarding the English sparrow, I would 
like to give you my experience in getting 
rid of these pests. I take an ordinary 
pocket electric flash light that costs about 
one dollar and hold it close to me. An¬ 
other person beats around their roosting 
places with a fish pole, and when dis¬ 
turbed they fly straight for the tiny light. 
Those that you do not get in your hand 
drop to the floor and are easily picked 
up. An ordinary barn can be completely 
rid of them in about 15 minutes. Of 
course it must be done on a dark night. 
Ontario, Canada. p. o. A. 
Quicklime Or Hydrated Lime. —We 
have often been asked if hydrated lime 
is just as good as burnt lime or quick¬ 
lime for making the lime-sulphur mixture 
or Bordeaux. We have had experience 
with the two limes in making Bordeaux, 
and it seems to be evident that the quick¬ 
lime is superior for this purpose. We 
think the same is true of the lime- 
sulhpur, although we have not had per¬ 
sonal experience with the hydrated lime 
for this purpose. From choice we should 
take the quicklime. 
COMING FARMERS’ MEETINGS. 
Holstein Breeders’ Association, Chica¬ 
go. Ill., June 2. 
Pennsylvania State Horticultural As¬ 
sociation, Summer meeting, State College, 
Pa.. June 17-18. 
American Association of Nurserymen, 
Cleveland, O., June 24-26. 
Georgia State Horticultural Society, 
Slimmer meeting, Griffin, Ga., August 
5-6. 
Indiana Apple Show, Tomlinson Hall, 
Indianapolis, Ind., November 18-24. 
“For the Land’s Sake, use Bowker’s 
Fertilizers; they enrich the earth and 
those who till it.”— Adv. 
Climax Baskets 
We make the best CLIMAX BASKETS and 
more of them than any other factory in the 
United States. We are also manufacturers of, 
or dealers in, all kinds of FRUIT PACKAGES- 
NOW is the time to buy your baskets, before 
the rush. Write or wire 
YATES LUMBER COMPANY 
Penn Yan New York 
FRUIT 
AND VEGETABLE 
BASKETS 
OF ALL DESC'Bl PTIOXS 
Write for free catalogue and price list. Buy direct 
from the Manufacturer and save money. 
WEBSTER BASKET CO. 
Box 14 ... Webster, Monroe Co.. N. 1. 
SEASONABLE 
FARM SEEDS 
COW PEAS SOY BEANS 
The best varieties for hay and silage. 
Millets, Buckwheat, Dwarf Essex 
Rape, etc.—all the best varieties. 
Mangel Wurzels and Sugar Beets for stock 
feeding. 
Write for prices on any Farm Seeds desired, 
also ask for free Alfalfa Leaflet. 
HENRY A. DREER 
714-716 Chestnut Street, Phila., Pa. 
WEEDLESS ALFALFA 
We are trying with all our might to 
furnish absolutely pure Alfalfa seed, 
with all blasted and immature grains 
removed. All other field seeds, Soy 
Beans, Vetch, Sweet Clover, etc. Write 
for samples and booklet telling “How to 
Know Good Seed.” 
0. M. SCOTT & SON., 480 Main St., Marysville, 0. 
Millions of Sweet Potato 
TOMATO, CABBAGE ANO 
Cauliflower Plants, Rhu¬ 
barb Roots. Price list free. M. N. BORGO,Vineland, N. J. 
Tomato, Cabbage, Pepper & Celery Plants 
Good quality at lowest prices. C. L FIELD, Sewell. N. J. 
THOUSANDS OF PLANTS-;”;, 1 . 1 ’^'^ 
per M. Cabbage $1.00 per M. Order from this ad, 
or send for free list, PENKOSE PLANT & 
TRUCK FARM, W. P. Drake, Dover, Del. 
CABBAGE, CELERY, TOMATO 
SWEET POTATO. CAULIFLOWER, PEPPER, EGG PLANTS 
All Leading Varieties, Large or Small Lots, by 
Mail or Express, Carefully Packed, at Reasonable 
Prices. Catalog Free. Harry L-Squires, Remsenburg, N.Y. 
SWEETCLOVER SEED^S-SUp"?^, 
and circular how to 
grow it. sent on request. E. Barton, Box 29, Falmouth. Ky. 
CTRA WBERRY PLANT C 
For Spring, Summer and Fall Planting. 
Pot Grown and Runner. Catalogue Free. 
HAItltY L. SQUIltES, Remsenburg, N, Y. 
Cut Worm & Grub Destroyer 
Save your plants by using this inexpensive 
remedy. Absolutely effective. One pound cost¬ 
ing 25c postpaid is sufficient for 50 plants. 
Write for free booklet 
CARPENTER-UDELL CHEMICAL CO. 
Dept. R, Grand Rapids, Mich. 
i 7 or Two New Yearly Subscrip¬ 
tions, or Twenty Ten-Week 
Trial Subscriptions 
YOUMAN’S HOUSE¬ 
HOLD GUIDE 
AND DICTIONARY OF EVERY-DAY 
WANTS 
By Professor A. E. YOUMAN.M.D. 
540 Larue Octavo Paues—Cloth 
Size, Eh by 6 inches 
Contains Twenty Thousand Recipes in Every 
Department of Human Effort, and will save 
$100 a Year to All Who Own It 
N O trade, profession, or occupation but what 
is represented therein. The Housewife, 
Carpenter, Builder, Blacksmith, Farmer, 
Stock Raiser, the Sick will And aids and 
suggestions therein invaluable. It is impos¬ 
sible to enumerate every particular branch of 
every employment that Youman’s book does not 
advance new and valuable information thereon. 
It has what many other books of a similar 
character has not, a most thorough and com¬ 
plete index comprising twenty large pages, 
three columns on a page, so that anything in 
the book cun tie found in a moment. 
The reader will understand that it is utterly 
Impossible to insert in this notice even the 
merest mention of the vast amount of infor¬ 
mation contained in the large, double-column 
540 pages of Youman’s Household Guide. The 
hook itself must be seen to be fully appreciated. 
These articles are not given with a subscrip¬ 
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subscription list of the K. N.-Y. 
The Rural New-Yorker, 333 W. 30th St., N. Y. 
