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THE KURA. L, NEW-YORKER 
May 22, 1915. 
Crops and Farm Notes 
For the week ending May S our im¬ 
ports entered at the 33 principal custom 
houses amounted to $31,028,000, with 
$3,990,000 duties collected. Exports were 
$51,584,000, one of the large items being 
161,183 bales of cotton, making 7,482.603 
shipped since August 1 last 
The watermelon area in the principal 
Southern producing States is 96.000 
acres, about 12,000 less than last year. 
Texas leads with 29.000 acres. Georgia 
lias 28.000 and Florida 20.000. The 
muskmelon area of these States and Cali¬ 
fornia is 19.000 acres. The Imperial Val¬ 
ley of California is the heaviest producing 
section. 
Grain Notes and Movements. 
Grain exports from Atlantic and Gulf 
ports for week ending May 8 and since 
July 1 last were : 
Week. Since July 1. 
Wheat, bu. 
Flour, bbls. 
Corn, bu. 
Oats, bu. ...... 
Rye, bu. 
Barley, bu. 
4.158.000 
330,000 
732.000 
2.123.000 
437.000 
136.000 
276.872.000 
12.920.000 
34,543.000 
75.536.000 
12.039.000 
10,703.000 
Stocks in store were, in thousands of 
bushels: 
New York . 
Philadelphia ... 
Baltimore . 
Duluth . 
Minneapolis .... 
Chicago .. 
Kansas City ... 
Buffalo . 
Wheat. 
Corn. 
Oats. 
2.148 
426 
1.211 
838 
267 
1.037 
894 
777 
1.728 
3.814 
9 
566 
5.608 
794 
1,097 
2.420 
7.643 
7.806 
897 
1.830 
391 
2,684 
3,126 
2,077 
Government Crop Report. 
The area in Winter wheat May 1 was 
40.169.000 acres, 11.6 per cent more than 
was harvested last year. The average 
condition was 92.9 per cent, three per 
(■(>nt less than last year, but 5.5 above the 
10-vear average. This indicates a proba¬ 
ble yield of 693,000,000 bushels, 9,000,000 
more than last year. States with more 
than 1.000.000 acres in Winter wheat 
are : Kansas, 8,472,000: Nebraska, 3,201,- 
000; Oklahoma, 3,0777.000; Illinois, 2,- 
875,000; Missouri, 2.773,000; Indiana, 
2,764.000; Ohio. 2,063,000; Texas, 1,- 
360.000; Pennsylvania, 1,299,(XX). Vir¬ 
ginia, 1.226.000; Washington. 1.127.000; 
North Carolina, 1,053.000. Michigan has 
953.000. Maryland, 638.000, and New 
York, 377.000 acres. 
The condition of rye was 89.S, or 3.4 
per cent better last year. The average 
condition of meadows was 89.9, and pas¬ 
tures, 87.2. Stocks of hay remaining on 
farms about 8,468,000 tons, or 636,000 
more than on May 1, 1914. 
New York State Crops and Prices. 
The outlook May 1 was for a Winter 
wheat yield of 7.800,000 bushels. Bye 
prospect is 92 per cent of normal mead¬ 
ows, 91 ; pastures, 88; Spring plowing 
completed, 65 per cent, 18 per cent above 
the 10-year average at this date. Old 
hay on hand 670.000 tons, or 27,000 more 
than May 1, 1914. Trices to producers, 
compared with previous year were: 
May 1,1915. May 1,1914. 
Wheat. 1.43 .99 
Corn .86 .80 
Oats.64 .49 
Potatoes.36 .82 
I-Iav . 14.80 15.00 
Eggs .21 .20 
Apples in Storage. 
The Bureau of Markets estimates that 
10 per cent of the total amount of apples 
stored last Fall were in the coolers May 
1. Analysis of business in 179 storages 
shows the following movements by 
months: In December, 9.7 per cent of 
the holdings were moved ; January, 1S.1; 
February, 21.9; March, 25; April, 14.8. 
'Phe decrease in barrelled apples since 
December 1 has been 90.7 and boxes 86.1 
per cent. The total holdings in these 179 
houses May 1 were the equivalent of 
243,067 barrels. Adding to those the 
storages that had not previously reported 
gives a total holding of 279,534 barrels. 
In a report on fur sale prospects, Con¬ 
sul Skinner, of London, states that the 
market is very dull as the wealthy people 
are buying cheaper grades than usual and 
others not buying at all. Perhaps the 
worst sufferers from the depressed market 
will be the Canadian Indians who make 
their living by trapping and have been 
notified that the fur companies will no 
longer advance supplies against prospec¬ 
tive catches. Haw furs are ordinarily 
disposed of by trappers soon after they 
are caught. The dealers buy the skins 
and pack in bales for shipment to the 
auction sales, which are ordinarily in Oc¬ 
tober, January and March. This year 
only the March sale was held. The per¬ 
centage of decline from normal prices was 
45 per cent on skunk ; fox. 30 to 60 per 
cent; sable, 40; otter, 35; lynx, 40; 
muskrat, 20 to 40 per cent. 
The maple sugar crop in our section 
is a very poor one, a little over a pound 
to the tree is a big yield this year, and a 
good many have only made about three- 
quarters pound to the tree. We usually 
make from two to 2% pounds per tree. 
The first price by sugar buyers was 
seven cents, but now they are offering 10 
cents, and most of the farmers are sell¬ 
ing. Syrup sells for $1.10 per gallon. 
Some of us have private customers and 
get $1.25 per gallon for syrup, 12% cents 
for sugar in tins and 20 cents for cakes. 
Last year the price for sugar was eight 
cents. All produce for sale from the 
farm is low; butter 30; eggs 20; hogs 
7c and potatoes you can give away. Ac¬ 
cording to the prices we have to pay for 
all grains and flour it makes it hard 
times. Outdoor help is more plentiful 
and wages a very little lower. I). G. s. 
Greensboro, Vt. 
The season for sugar making has been 
short, some making only enough for home 
use. The price for syrup at present is 
80 and 90 cents; sugar, 12%. Down in 
Canada, four miles from here, it can be 
bought for 75 cents. The prices are about 
the same in this locality as former years. 
Chateaugay, N. Y. a. a. h. 
Maple sugar is a small crop this year, 
about one-third. Syrup is $1 per gallon 
in a small way. o. j. M. 
East Fairfield, Vt. 
May 8. Butter at creamery. April 15, 
33% ; veals, live, eight cents, May 1 ; po¬ 
tatoes. 30 to 35. Young pigs. April, $3, 
May $2.50. Bran, $1.40 at mill; hominy, 
$1.60. G. j. c. 
Athens, Pa. 
May 5. Calves 7c.. fat cattle not mov¬ 
ing yet; milk at station. $1.50 per hun¬ 
dred pounds for March; butter. 30; milk 
at retail, 5c. quart. Hay. 70; potatoes, 
50; wheat, $1.53; oats. 60; rye, 75; corn, 
85; chickens, 18; eggs. 18. This is a 
fruit country ; bloom of all kinds plenti¬ 
ful. Season forward and very dry. 
Aspers, Pa. R. M. E. 
It is reported that millions of climbing 
cut worms have done damage in the Mich¬ 
igan Fruit Belt in the vicinity of Benton 
Harbor. North of Benton Harbor and in 
the orchards in the vicinity of Hartford 
and Bangor, a vast amount of damage 
has been done, and prominent fruit men 
of the section predict that unless the rav¬ 
ages of the worms are checked, the entire 
fruit crop will be destroyed. 
Advertising “ Farm Secrets.” 
Every year at about this time the old 
question of responsibility in advertising 
comes up in a new way. To what extent 
is a paper justified in printing advertise¬ 
ments which offer some secret formula, 
or some proposition for doing old things 
in a new way? Dozens of people come 
offering some farm “secret,” which they 
offer at a price varying from $1 to $10. 
Of course, nothing of this sort would ever 
be printed in The R. N.-Y. without a 
full statement of the value which our 
readers would receive in return for their 
money. Most of the people who offer 
these* things cannot understand why they 
should not be permitted to offer their 
secrets. Here are a few of such matters. 
One man wanted to advertise a new 
plan for producing 60 tons of cattle fod¬ 
der on one acre. For $5 he would tell 
anyone how to do it. Investigation 
showed that he sent in return for the $5 a 
little circular telling a farmer how to 
plant the seed of mangel-wurzels in gar¬ 
den drills. When these mangels reached 
a fair size, they were to be dug up and 
planted 18 inches apart all over the acre. 
In this way it was claimed that the 60 
tons could actually be produced; yet 
what farmers of average means could ever 
find the time or the labor to transplant 
30.000 or 40,000 mangels on an acre, and 
then give them thorough culture? 
Another man found that, by painting 
tar on the under side of the perches in his 
henhouse, that he was able to. clean out 
the mites which so troubled his poultry. 
He offered this as a secret louse killer. 
It cost $1 to obtain the information. 
Readers of the farm papers have doubt¬ 
less seen recent advertisements of a mate¬ 
rial which promised great results as a 
food and litter for poultry. In this case 
you were to send $2 or more, and receive 
a sample package of the material. It 
turned out to be ordinary eel grass, with 
which all farmers near the shore are fa¬ 
miliar. In another case an advertisement 
was sent us from a man who in exchange 
for $2 would tell farmers of a sure way to 
cut down the cost of meat by providing a 
full supply at little or no cost. Investiga¬ 
tion showed that this man advocated the 
purchase of several pairs of Belgian 
hares, and gave the figures to show the 
immense quantity of meat which these 
hares would produce with practically no 
cost to the farmer. Now when this form 
of advertising was refused, all of these 
men felt that they had not been fairly 
treated. They claim that what they had 
to offer was true and sound advice, which 
if followed out by farmers would surely 
help them and prove profitable. They 
could not understand why a reputable 
farm paper should protect its readers 
from statements of this sort. It is prob¬ 
ably true that many of these schemes 
might be of service to the people, and 
perhaps many of them would not be 
brought to general attention except 
through some form of advertising, but a 
moment’s thought ought to show that no 
paper is justified in permitting any one to 
exploit its readers, or lead them to think 
that they are obtaining some wonderful 
preparation, when what is really offered 
is a matter of everyday occurrence, and 
common knowledge to a large number of 
people. We are sometimes told by those 
who try to print this kind of advertising 
that having worked and thought out their 
proposition, they are entitled to a reward 
for their efforts. Granting that to be 
true, they are not entitled to the right to 
lead our readers to suppose they have 
some wonderful preparation which is en¬ 
tirely new or marvelous, when what they 
really offer is something which any expe¬ 
riment station or farm paper ought to tell 
them about. 
There is a business in China of deal¬ 
ing in human hair. Last year nearly one 
million pounds of this hair was exported 
from Hong Kong alone, and this was a 
poor year, since in 1913 over two and 
one-half million pounds were sold. A 
large quantity of this hair comes direct 
to this country- The longer and finer 
samples are used by hairdressers and mil¬ 
liners, while the coarser samples are used 
in making cheaper hair goods. There is 
an examiner in Hong Kong whose busi¬ 
ness it is to look over these samples, see 
that they are thoroughly disinfected and 
fumigated and measure the length of the 
hair. In 1913 hair which ranged from 16 to 
26 inches in length brought in $1.50 a 
pound in gold. In January of this year that 
same grade of hair has fallen to 90 cents, 
while hair running to three feet had fal¬ 
len from about $3 a pound in 1912 to 
$1.70 this year. The price of this hair 
of course is determined by the fashions 
and if some wise man or woman could 
make American women believe that they 
look more beautiful with a bushel basket 
of hair on their head, the price might 
go to $5 to $6 a pound. It is said that 
in Switzerland and northern Italy there 
are women who make something of an 
income, (small it is true) by cutting 
their hair every two or three years and 
selling it to a high-class trade. It seems to 
be true that fashion dictates the price of 
many things beside potatoes. It is not 
considered fashionable for town or city 
women to grow stout, and as they believe 
that potatoes will bring about that com¬ 
fortable condition they prefer to eat other 
kinds of food, many times selecting food 
which is far more productive of fat than 
potatoes. 
Coming Farmers’ Meetings. 
Farmers’ Day, Maryland State Col¬ 
lege, College Park, Md., May 29. 
American Sweet Pea Society, Special 
show, Panama-Pacific International Ex¬ 
position, San Francisco, June 4, 1915. 
New Jersey State Horticultural So¬ 
ciety, Summer meeting, Seabrook Farms, 
Bridgeton, N. J., June 9. 
Cottonseed Crushers’ Association of 
Georgia, Tybee Island, Ga., June 14-16. 
Fourth annual Summer School, under 
auspices of Washington State College, 
Puyallup, Wash.; June 21-July 30. 
American Nurserymen’s Association, 
fortieth annual convention, Detroit, 
Mich., June 23-25. 
International Viticulture Congress, 
Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francis¬ 
co, July 12-13. 
National Fertilizer Association, annual 
convention, Hot Springs, Va., July 13-14. 
Ginners’ Association of the Cotton 
Belt, Atlanta, Ga., July 23-24. 
American Gladiolus Society, Annual 
show, Newport, R. 1^, August 18, 19, 
1915. 
Warren County Farmers’ Picnic, Bel- 
videre, N. J., August 18. 
New York State Fair, Syracuse, N. Y., 
September 13-18. 
Genesee County Fair, Batavia, N. Y., 
September 21-25. 
Farmers’ National Congress, annual 
meeting, Omaha, Neb., September 28-Oc- 
tober 1. 
International Dry Farming Congress, 
Denver, Colo., Oct. 4-7. 
Southwestern New York Breeders’ As¬ 
sociation, Holstein meeting, Randolph, 
N. Y., Oct. 11. 
Chrysanthemum Society of America, 
Annual show, Cleveland, Ohio, November 
10-14, 1915. Special show, San Francis¬ 
co, Cal. 
Annual Corn and Grain Show, Tracy, 
Minn., Jan. 3-8, 1916. 
When you write advertisers mention 
The It. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick 
reply and a “square deal.” See guaran¬ 
tee editorial page. : : : : 
Upkeep of buildings pays as 
well as upkeep of land. Good 
paint is as important as good 
fertilizer. The best thing 
in paint is 
zinc 
It makes paint do more and 
look better. 
Let us send you a list of manufacturers who 
make ready-mixed Zinc paints, and a copy 
of the booklet, "Your Move." 
The New Jersey Zinc Company 
Room 455, 55 Wall Street New York 
ELECTRIC LIGHT 
FOR EVERY HOME! 
Electric lights on your farm mean comfort, 
safety, convenience and the saving of money; 
water where you want it and when you want it, 
and clean, pure water, means freedom from 
sickness. It means that yonr family are 
healthier and happier and you save the women 
folks a lot of hard work by giving them run¬ 
ning water in any quantity they require. EX¬ 
CELSIOR GASOLINE ENGINES give you light 
and give you water. They (To your threshing, 
your wood sawing, in fact, all the hard work 
!>n the farm. The cost is small, the benefit great. 
Catalogue describing engines, pumping outfits 
and lighting outfits free on request. Do not de¬ 
lay. Send for them to-day. If yon tell us the 
size of your farm, you get a special proposition. 
R. CONSOLIDATED GAS ENGINE CO.. 
202 Fulton St., New York City. 
LEVIN PRUNER 
T HE best Primer. Cuts %-iuch 
dry branch. Quick, clean, 
easy cut. We will send it post¬ 
paid for one new yearly subscrip¬ 
tion at $1, or for club of 10 ten- 
week trials at 10 cents each. 
These articles are not given with a sub¬ 
scription to The Rural New-Yorker, but 
are given to the agent as a reward, in 
place of cash, for extending the subscrip¬ 
tion list of The Rural New-Yorker. 
THE RVRAL NEW-YORKER, 
333 WEST 30th ST., NEW YORK. 
^ MICA 
AXLE GREASE 
Makes the load easier for your horse—less 
9train on the harness. The mica does it. 
STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF NEW YORK 
Principal Stations 
Albany 
Boston 
New York 
Buffalo 
/vs 
MICA AXLE GREASE 
