1914. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1107 
DON’T PAY WARTI ME PRICES 
Notwithstanding the European War the American People Need 
Not Pay Advances for General Merchandise 
Ruralisms 
Propagating the Grape. 
HAVE a grapevine which bears very 
fine fruit, but I do not know the 
name. Would you tell me how to pro¬ 
pagate and when to do it? w. W. 
Olympia, Ky. 
It is very easy to propagate most va¬ 
rieties of grapes, and others are very dif¬ 
ficult. The ordinary way is from cut¬ 
tings. These are made from mature 
wood of the last year’s growth, cut from 
the vines almost any time when there 
are no leaves on them or from November 
to April. The wood should be of strong 
vigorous gi’owth. The cuttings should be 
about eight to 10 inches long and with 
ix bud near each end. They ai*e best 
buried in the ground after being tied in 
small bundles and left until the time for 
making eaidy garden, when they should 
be set in nursery rows in good soil. They 
can be set by a spade or set in a trench 
made with a plow and filled in with a 
hoe, leaving one bud above ground. In 
any case the ground should be packed 
very firmly about them, at the bottom es¬ 
pecially. Good cultivation should be 
given. Vai’ieties that will not root from 
cuttings ai - e layered, that is done by cov¬ 
ering a part of a living vine with soil and 
leaving it so during the growing season. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
Varieties of Rhubarb. 
S there any difference between the rhu¬ 
barb roots Myatt’s Victoria and 
Myatt’s Linnaeus? Is one as good as 
the other? T. w. B. 
Whippany, N. J. 
The varieties Victoria and Linnmus 
are perhaps the most popular sorts and 
the most largely grown by market garden- 
ers and for private use. The Victoria is 
very seldom catalogued by seedsmen under 
the name of Myatt’s Victoria, and it is 
a question in the minds of many whether 
Myatt had anything to do with its origin. 
The Linnaeus is a strong grower, produc¬ 
ing long stalks of most excellent quality, 
early and productive. The Victoria is per¬ 
haps a little heavier producer than the 
Linnaeus, is later and not considered of as 
high quality. Both are fine sorts and one 
will not go amiss in planting either or 
both of them. The Victoria is preferred 
by some, and the Linnaeus is preferred 
by other growers, the friends of both 
claiming their favorite as being the bet¬ 
ter. K. 
Drone Trees in Orchards. 
N page 930 drone trees are discussed 
on your editorial page. Every or- 
chardist has them unless exceptionally 
fortunate. My own share of them has 
been more than liberal, and since they 
are usually of strong and vigorous growth, 
my plan has been to put new tops on 
them by selecting buds from trees that 
were satisfactory producers. The method 
used has been to prune severely in Spring 
and force out a liberal growth of shoots 
on the stem of the tree. These shoots are 
budded during the ensuing Summer and 
allowed to start into growth the same sea¬ 
son, and continue such growth during the 
following year. Then the top of the tree 
is sawed off just above the strongest bud- 
shoot, which is usually one of the upper¬ 
most. From six to a dozen buds are usu¬ 
ally put in, and the new shoots ai - e from 
three to six feet in length when the top 
is taken off. After that growth is rapid 
and beai’ing soon begins. A number of 
trees on my place, peach, pear, plum, per¬ 
simmon and pecan, have been treated in 
this way, and in every instance subse¬ 
quent fruitage has met expectation. A 
season seldom passes that one or more 
trees are not worked in this way. No 
longer ago than last April a lusty young 
persimmon and strong growing eight year 
old Mobile pecan were worked with dor¬ 
mant buds, not because they were drones, 
for they were both exceedingly prolific; 
but their fruitage was infei'ior. The stems 
of these trees are now bristling with bud- 
shoots two to four feet in length, while 
about one-fourth of the original top is 
still growing and fruiting above. When 
the remainder of these tops is taken off 
next Spring those bud-shoots will grow 
surprisingly fast and new fruits will be 
expected a season later. Then if the new 
persimmons and new pecans are not ap¬ 
proximately equal in quality to those pro¬ 
duced by the mother trees from which the 
buds were taken, it will be the fii’st fail¬ 
ure in a long experience. 
To dig up or cut out a healthy, stx-ong- 
growing drone tree is a waste. Why, in¬ 
deed, may they not be budded as readily 
and with as good results as an ordinary, 
small seedling? The “scientists” who 
deny this have gone foul on their science. 
On the drone ti’ee proposition, I am pre¬ 
pared to show the goods in quantity suf¬ 
ficient to convince the most obtuse or 
incredulous Missourian. 
Texas. ciiarles. l. Edwards. 
Tomatoes Dropping Fruit. 
AN you tell me the cause of young 
tomatoes falling off, at the point next 
to the fruit? The plants seem to be 
healthy, also plenty of blossoms. The 
plants are Ponderosa. o. B. A. 
Southbridge, Mass. 
This trouble is most usually caused 
by failure of the blooms to pollenize prop¬ 
erly, which condition may be due to damp 
cloudy weather or too rank gi'owth of 
the plants, or both. If either or both of 
these conditions are responsible, the 
plants will set fruit freely as soon as the 
adverse conditions have passed. Toma¬ 
toes should not be manured very heavily, 
one or two small shovelfuls of well-rotted 
stable manure to the hill is sufficient, 
even on the poorest soils. Any manures 
with a high pex-centage of nitrogen should 
not be applied in quantity to tomatoes, as 
the over stimulation will foi’ce an ab¬ 
normal vine growth, which at the begin¬ 
ning of the season is likely to pi'event the 
setting of fruits altogether, or cause 
many small fruits to drop, by reason of 
being insufficiently pollenized. This is 
almost sure to be the case in a wet sea¬ 
son. The Ponderosa seems to suffer more 
in this way than any of the other stand¬ 
ard varieties. k. 
Trapping Moles. 
WONDER if any of the Rural family 
can teach me how to catch moles? I 
have a good trap and follow instruc¬ 
tions as closely as I can, but don’t get 
the moles. Sometimes they burrow 
around the trap, or the trap is sprung 
and the animal not caught, but most of 
the time they seem to avoid the run al¬ 
together. IIow can I tell on which par¬ 
ticular run to set the trap, and how set 
it to insure success? Beetles and drought 
have done us great damage and now to 
have the ground honeycombed with mole 
runs, is a last straw. L. w. R. 
Michigan. 
There are several makes of mole-traps 
in the market, constructed on the same 
general principle, all of which are very 
successful when properly handled. I 
have used the one make of trap for years 
and during that time have caught large 
numbers of moles, catching as many as 
seven in the same spot. The mole usually 
makes his headquarters along the fence or 
some other part of the grounds that is 
not disturbed by cultivation, and the best 
place to set the trap is at the point of 
entrance to the cultivated ground. The 
mole feeds twice daily, morning and even¬ 
ing, and seldom passes through the runs 
during the day, except in damp cloudy 
weather, when they sometimes work dur¬ 
ing the day. When the spot at which the 
trap is to be set is selected, take the 
hand and fill in the run with soil, press¬ 
ing it down gently, making the soil in the 
run level with the surrounding surface. 
Place the trap in position over the filled- 
in run as fairly as possible, and push the 
standaixls into the ground until the treadle 
comes within about one-fourth inch of the 
gx-ound. Now hold the trap in position 
with one hand and with the other catch 
hold of the part that contains the pins, 
pull it up and release it allowing the pins 
to jab into the ground with the full force 
of the spring. Repeat this operation 
three or four times. This will make an 
easy passage way for the pins, and go far 
toward success in the trapping of the 
moles, I find it a good idea to slip a thin 
piece of wood or stone under the treadle, 
this should be no lai’ger than the treadle. 
By doing this the mole will spring the 
trap more readily and in fully 75 per 
cent, of springing the trap, catches the 
mole. Place half a brick oix top of the 
trap; this additional force will drive 
the sharp pins through the mole, and 
in some instances prevent it from getting 
away after being caught, particularly 
when the pin has only pierced the skin of 
the body or foot. K. 
“Wil-yum, what can you tell us about 
Columbus?” “It’s next to last in the 
American Association.”—Buffalo Express. 
In spite of the great European war 
which has been used as an excuse by some 
catalog houses, manufacturers, jobbers 
and retail deakws for advancing prices 
hei’e in America, we will not raise our 
prices on a single one of the more than 
125,000 articles listed in our great catalog 
so long as our present enormous stocks 
last and our big contracts for merchandise 
of every description remain in effect. 
No matter what other firms may do, no 
matter how much they increase their 
prices, remember you do not have to pay 
these incx-eases if you will send your or¬ 
ders to The Charles William Stores, New 
York. 
At the time this advertisement is writ¬ 
ten, that part of the business community 
engaged in the manufacture and sale of 
merchandise in America seems to have a 
bad case of rattles. Notwithstanding the 
fact that we are not in any way involved 
in the terrible struggle now going on be¬ 
tween the great nations of Eui’ope, not¬ 
withstanding the fact that America will 
have the most tremendous crops in all 
histox-y, notwithstanding the fact that our 
mines are yielding their usual quota to be 
added to the world’s wealth, notwithstand¬ 
ing the fact that we are at peace with 
all the woxdd and conditions throughout 
the United States are fundamentally 
sound, manufacturers and pi’oducers, job¬ 
bers and retail dealers seem to have be¬ 
come fearful that somewhere row un¬ 
known to them, our supply of raw mate¬ 
rials will be diminished, our supply of 
food stuffs will be inadequate and there 
will be a greater demand than we will be 
able to supply. Already there have been 
enormous advances in many lines of mer¬ 
chandise, particularly those lines which 
are produced in whole or in part by Euro¬ 
pean workmen in Eui’opean factories, or 
produced in American factories by Arneri- 
can workmen with materials in whole or 
in part imported from the other side. 
Dye stuffs, which are produced princi¬ 
pally in Germany, have already been ad¬ 
vanced in pxdce 1.000 per cent. Just 
think of it! Dyes which could be pur¬ 
chased a few days ago at a fair price, 
are now sold at ten times the price they 
brought on the first day of August! Dye 
stuffs are used in the manufacture of all 
American fabrics, whether cotton or wool. 
Therefore, notwithstanding the fact that 
American manufacturers have not been 
compelled to lay in any additional stocks 
of dyes because most of them are fully 
supplied for months to come, cotton fab¬ 
rics and woolen fabrics have already been 
advanced in price from % cent to 12 
cents and 15 cents a yard. Our prices 
have not been and will not be advanced a 
single penny during the life of our present 
Fall and Winter catalog which is just 
now coming from the printex-s ready for 
free distribution. We have thousands 
upon thousands of yards of the finest cot¬ 
ton, woolen and silk fabrics in stock ready 
to take care of the needs of our custom¬ 
ers. Therefore you need not be at all 
alarmed over this situation. We are 
ready to take care of you at prices even 
lower than the prices which we quoted 
in our Spring and Summer Catalog, so 
long as our big supply holds out. If you 
pay a penny more than our prices, there¬ 
fore, you are simply throwing money 
away. 
Swiss watches, jewelry novelties, most 
of the settings used in rings, lockets, lav- 
allieres, bracelets, etc., come from Europe, 
but long befoi'e the war broke out our 
stocks wei’e completed. But notwithstand¬ 
ing our enormous stocks on hand and our 
big contracts for all these goods, our buyers 
went into the New York market the mo¬ 
ment the war cloud came upon the hori¬ 
zon, with instructions to sweep the mar¬ 
ket clean of anything needed to protect 
our customers, and we believe we can take 
care of every order you send us. We cer- 
tainly will do so as long as we have the 
goods on hand. 
While the linen weavers of Ireland and 
Scotland are still manufacturing these 
fabrics and it is possible to import them 
from Ireland and Scotland, unfortunately 
most of the flax used by our Irish and 
Scotch friends is purchased by them in 
Russia. If the war lasts any length of 
time it may become impossible for them 
to get their new supply of raw materials 
and under such conditions a "scarcity of 
linens will force the places up, but that 
will come, if it comes at all, in the Spring 
of 1915. Taking advantage of this sit¬ 
uation many importers, jobbers and re¬ 
tail dealei-s are already advancing their 
prices, tho’ they have not had to pay a 
penny more for the goods they have on 
hand at present. We have enormous 
stocks of linens, we have an enormous 
supply in reserve and we feel sure we can 
take care of every demand between now 
and the first of January at least. Not a 
penny of advance do we ask for any of 
these goods we now own and offer at our 
present catalog price. 
Most of the tin used in America comes 
from Wales. There are large stocks in 
America and the miners ax-e still at work 
in the Welsh mines. Boats are still ply¬ 
ing their ti*ade between England and 
America, but notwithstanding this fact, 
manufacturers, producers, jobbei’s and 
retailers are taking advantage of this sit¬ 
uation to increase the price* of everything 
in which tin is a component part. Block 
tin, tinware, enamehvare, galvanized 
iron of every description, all are being af¬ 
fected by this arbitrary increase in price, 
which we feel is unwarranted. Our pi-ices 
remain the same and our contracts, we 
believe, protect us for months to come. As 
long as we have the goods and our con¬ 
tracts are in force you can have what you 
want without a penny advance in price. 
As you know, most of the finer laces 
and embroideries used in the manufacture 
of dainty gowns and lingerie are imported 
from Switzerland and France. Dresses 
made of lace and net and embroideries 
have therefore suddenly gone upward. 
Manufacturers have become panic 
stricken for fear that they will not be 
able to renew their present stocks when 
they are exhausted. Our stocks of dresses 
and lingerie made up of laces and net and 
embroidery are enormous. We have big 
contracts placed with i-esponsible manu¬ 
facturers for other tremendous supplies. 
Our shelves bulge with the new goods for 
Fall and Winter which were brought into 
our enormous stores before the war 
clouds broke. Our pi’ices were fixed be¬ 
fore the war conxmenced. Our merchan¬ 
dise was purchased long in advance and 
so long as our present great stocks last, 
and we think they are adequate to take 
care of the orders we receive until the 
first of January, we wall continue to sell 
at tho old prices. 
Gloves, novelties, notions, low priced 
shot guns any many other lines which are 
produced in France and Germany, Bel¬ 
gium and Holland have also been arbi¬ 
trarily advanced in price by importers 
and jobbers and retail dealers, but our 
prices remain on the same low level be¬ 
cause we have enormous stocks, we have 
iron clad contracts with responsible peo¬ 
ple and we ai-e prepared as never before 
to take care of all of the business which 
will come our w r ay. 
This situation ought to be a revelation 
to the American people as to the tremen¬ 
dous savings they can make by patron¬ 
izing The Charles William Stores, the or- 
ganization with foresight, with enormous 
financial resources, with tremendous 
warehouses where almost unlimited stocks 
a re put away and held in reserve for just 
such emergencies as this. 
_ Of course the little retail dealer with 
his few thousand dollars worth of iner 
chandise is absolutely at the mercy of 
manufacturers, producers and jobbers 
when collectively they decide arbitrarily 
to raise prices. What can the little dis¬ 
tributor of merchandise do under such 
conditions but pay the price demanded by 
those who supply his stocks of merchan¬ 
dise? This action is not confined to the 
little fellows, by any means. Even big 
dealers, with generous stocks of mer¬ 
chandise, are taking advantage of this 
present war time scare, we regret to say, 
to wring extra dollars, added profits, from 
their customers. We are anxious in this 
emergency to prove to the American peo¬ 
ple that ours is a store operated on a 
high plane of business ethics, that we 
have swept the world’s markets for the 
best things that money can buy, that we 
have assembled this merchandise in our 
great warehouses on a cost basis below 
that of almost any other merchandise or- 
ganization in America and we are ready 
now to pass this merchandise along to 
you with just one small profit added, 
which means that the price we name in 
our catalogs will make 50 cents to 80 
cents buy as much high class, dependable 
merchandise as you can get anywhere else 
in America for one dollar. 
If you have never purchased merchan¬ 
dise from The Charles William Stores, if 
you have never experienced the satisfac¬ 
tion which comes as a result of purchas¬ 
ing goods from us, sit down now and 
write us a letter or a postal card and 
say “send me a copy of your Big Free 
Catalog.” and the day your request is 
received, we will mail a copy of our great 
catalog free and postpaid. Then as you 
study its pages, as you look through it 
leaf by leaf, you will realize what a tre¬ 
mendous factor we will be in helping yoxx 
save money if you take advantage of the 
wonderful prices we quote, the splendid 
service we give and our offer to deliver 
your necessities to your nearest railway 
station or your doorway, all charges pre¬ 
paid by us. 
We regret more than we can say that 
in this enlightened age, such a conflict as 
that now raging in Europe should make 
a message like this address to the Ameri¬ 
can people necessary. We hope that by 
the time these lines reach you, or very 
soon thereafter, all the warring nations 
will lay down their arms and that peace 
may again prevail. But, in the mean¬ 
time, please remember that we do not feel 
there is the slightest reason for levying 
tribute on the American people for any¬ 
thing they use or wear because misguided 
nations in Eux-ope are flying at each 
other’s throats. 
rip | | 7*11* O i 514 STORES BLDG. 
The Charles Wilham Mores, new york city 
