783 
THE KURA L, NEW-YORKER 
RURALISMS 
Rhododendron as Medicine. 
Bulletin 101 of the Office of Foreign 
Seed and Plant Introduction contains the 
following note from Mr. L. J. Mackin¬ 
tosh, Darjeeling, India: 
We have a great number of plants of 
economic value in these hills and not a 
few of great medicinal value, some well 
known in Europe such as Cheritea and 
quinine, others again quite unknown. 
The hill tribes are more successful in 
combating tropical diseases than some of 
the qualified doctors. I shall give you 
one simple example. You know the red 
Rhododendron arboreum rufescens. the 
hill people use for diarrhoea and dysen¬ 
tery. The flowers are gathered and dried 
in the sun, then stored away for the year. 
They infuse about 10 or 12 petals (dry) 
in water and take (drink) the first thing 
in the. morning, it being considered the 
best time. The time however matters 
but little. I have seen really bad cases, 
hopelessly neglected or muddled by 
others, cured by this treatment. 
Our native Rhododendron maximum, 
great laurel or rose bay, possesses pois¬ 
onous qualities that are believed, appar¬ 
ently on sound authority, to extend even 
to honey contained in the flowers, a prop¬ 
erty apparently possessed by the Asiatic 
R. ponticum. A Siberian variety with 
yellow flowers is used as a remedy for 
rheumatism, the dried leaves being in¬ 
fused in water. An overdose produces 
symptoms of poisoning. 
Medicinal Value of Seaweed. 
Enclosed find some samples of sea- 
wrack ; it is supposed to help in kidney 
trouble and take away superfluous fat. 
I pay ten cents for a small package, but 
I would like your opinion before I go 
further. h. w. 
Torrington, Conn. 
I cannot learn that there is any such 
plant as sea wrack, this name being 
properly applied to the masses of sea 
Save the Native Sparrows. 
There seems to be some confusion in 
your columns as to the sparrow family. 
Your article on page 523 says the native 
sparrows ought not to be shot and killed, 
as is recommended for the English nuis¬ 
ance. They may not be killed, for they 
are protected by law, as among the most 
beneficial of our birds. Some of the na¬ 
tive varieties are among our sweetest 
singers, notably the song sparrow which 
comes to us early in the Spring with the 
bluebirds and robins. 
No person who does not absolutely 
know the English sparrow from the na¬ 
tive varieties should ever shoot a “spar- 
rowy” looking bird. The male may be 
indentified by his black throat, but the fe¬ 
male might be mistaken for other birds, 
by one who does not know them. The 
noisy and dirty English sparrow is 
hatched and lives his whole life on your 
place as close to you as he can get. He 
nests behind your shutters, in the vines 
growing against your house, and raises 
two and three broods a year. He drives 
away the bluebirds and wrens from the 
houses which you put up for them, and 
is a thoroughly disagreeable neighbor. 
He has no song, only a harsh loud chirp. 
Any birds or nests that you see out in 
the fields or hedgerows are never those 
of the English sparrow tribe. He likes 
the barnyard better. 
East year we were overrun with them. 
One day, thanks to quick work in shutting 
windows, we secured, by actual count, 57 
of them in one chicken house. Then we 
bought one of the sparrow traps so ex¬ 
tensively advertised and caught the rest. 
These traps catch the birds uninjured 
and any, not English sparrows, may be 
liberated. We wish our neighbors all 
had them. Our farm is now free of these 
pests, and it is a great pleasure to see 
and hear only our own beautiful song¬ 
birds. 
fail to make good shade and yet there 
will be a daily dropping of leaves till 
November. The roots come to the top 
of the_ ground, and will grow under 
walks in such a way that cement and 
brick walks are lifted out of place. A. 
C. W. also recommends tulip poplar 
which I think is all right. The native 
maple or sugar tree makes a fine shade 
tree here; also the Norway maple is ex¬ 
tra fine. f. w. 
Maryland. 
The Bookshelf. 
An American Fruit Farm: Its Se¬ 
lection and Management for Profit and 
for Pleasure, by Francis Newton Thorpe. 
This handsome volume of 348 pages, with 
21 illustrations, discusses the work upon 
a Pennsylvania fruit farm, on the south¬ 
ern shore of Lake Erie. The operations 
of the fruit farm are discussed practical¬ 
ly, but with a wealth of illustration 
drawn from wide knowledge and exper¬ 
ience. The human side of the farm is 
dwelt upon very interestingly. The pro¬ 
fit and pleasure of successful horticulture 
are shown from other than that of ma¬ 
terial gain only. Published by G. P. 
Putnam’s Sons, New York; price $2.50 
net. 
Little Bobby listened with deep in¬ 
terest to the story of the Prodigal Son. 
At the end of it he burst into tears. 
“Why, what's the matter, Bobbie?” ex¬ 
claimed his mother. “I’m—I’m so sorry 
for that poor liT ca-alf,” he sobbed. “He 
didn’t do miffin’!”—Everybody’s. 
“I HAD my dyspepsia almost cured 
once.” said Crabbe. “But you couldn’t 
stand the diet, eh?” asked Flabbe. “Well, 
it was this way,” explained Crabbe. “Dr. 
Filter advised me to eat chopped oat 
cakes. I ordered a box. and after eating 
them for a week I felt fine. When Brid¬ 
get said the cakes were gone I had her 
bring me in the box so that I could get 
tho name and order more, blit I never 
placed the order.” "Why not?” inquired 
I* labbe. “The cakes were helping you.” 
“I found,” said Crabbe, looking sick at 
the recollection, “that I had been eating 
dog biscuit.”—Melbourne Australasian. 
When you write advertisers mention 
The R. N.-Y. and you’ll get a quick 
reply and a “square deal." Sea guaran¬ 
tee editorial page. : : : : 
5 
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weeds of different varieties cast upon the 
coast; certainly no such plant is known 
in medicine and the sample enclosed gives 
no clue to the variety of weed that is 
being pulverized and sold to the credu¬ 
lous as a fat reducer and kidney remedy. 
Sea wrack has its uses, chief of which 
is as a fertilizer; spread at the rate of 
15 to 20 tons to the acre and plowed un¬ 
der. it furnishes a considerable amount 
uf plant food, and, being very heavy stuff, 
there is no doubt that it will remove sur¬ 
plus fat from those who cover any large 
area with it. Its beneficial effect upon 
the kidneys is to be more than doubted, 
however. The enclosed circular urges 
that one should be sure that he is getting 
sea wrack, and not sea weed, if he pur¬ 
chases the stuff elsewhere, but it does 
not explain the difference between the 
two, and very likely for the most excel¬ 
lent reason that there is none. The cir¬ 
cular itself is a typical example of the 
nauseating palaver of the medical bunco 
artist who writes touching letters from 
“sisters” and signs them “Sorrowful 
Heart,” “Anxious Mother,” etc. To those 
who know that these “sisters” and the 
“editor” who replies to their letters are 
all combined in one man, and he of the 
lowest type of human depravity, one who 
would filch money from the sick and help¬ 
less, the realization of utter inability to 
find words that can fitly characterize such 
business is distressing; one can only hope 
that an enlightened public conscience will 
some day wipe out this hideous blot in 
printers’ ink. M. b. d. 
Kohl-rabi Goes to Seed. 
hat makes kohl-rabi shoot up to 
seed instead of bearing edible bulbs? I 
have 1,300 planted, and will not get one 
to eat. c. p. 
Jefferson City, Mo. 
The plants were no doubt too old and 
too large when set out. It is useless to 
undertake to produce bulbs in transplant¬ 
ed plants if they are allowed to become 
hardened or overgrown in the seed bed. 
Like cauliflower, they must be kept in 
vigorous and succulent growth up to the 
time they are transferred to the gar¬ 
den or field, and should not be over four 
inches high at that time. Kohl-rabi is 
not nearly as hardy as cabbage, nor will 
the young plants stand hard usage and 
still make a crop. The seed should not 
be sown in the frame much before the 
first of April, and the plants would bet- 
tei not be set out until the ground is 
"arm enough to keep them moving 
steadily along. Severe checking of 
growth is almost sure to result in the 
plants going to seed. K 
Doing Business with a Business Concern 
Your article speaks humorously of the 
Patient man with plenty of time who fig¬ 
ured out how many tons of weed seeds 
our native sparrows eat in a season. That 
patient man is a scientist—many of them 
employed by the government—who can 
tell exactly what seeds and insects com¬ 
pose the food fragments found in a bird’s 
stomach. He knows whereof he speaks. 
There is no guesswork about it. The 
value of his work is shown by the many 
good laws passed by the State and Fed¬ 
eral governments for the protection of 
our birds. W e do all we can to attract 
birds by putting up houses for those that 
will nest in them, and by discouraging 
cats and red squirrels. a. 
Massachusetts. 
Lime-sulphur and Tent Catarpillar. 
We have no tent caterpillar on the 
trees we spray, but have not thought es¬ 
pecially that it was due to the lime-sul- 
phur treatment. In our dormant spray 
we use lime-sulphur one to eight or 10. 
The second spray, as soon as possible 
after the petals fall, we use arsenate of 
lead and consider this the dose that puts 
the caterpillars out of business. 
W ay ne Co., N. Y. Alfred c. weed. 
Alfalfa in Orchard. 
Referring to an article “Alfalfa for a 
Michigan Orchard” on page TOO, I would 
state that while I was a student at the 
I ennsylvania State College I was much 
interested in an experiment of that kind 
run by our station. The trees were very 
healthy and vigorous, and were much 
larger than others planted the same time 
receiving different treatment. 
During the past week I received a bul¬ 
letin on the results of the experiment 
which showed that the Alfalfa mulch 
ranked first in every way, growth, health 
and production. This experiment was 
run on a Hagerstown loam soil. If F. 
” • B.- is interested in the results of this 
experiment he can obtaiu same by writ¬ 
ing for this bulletin, No. 134, to the Di¬ 
rector of Experiment Station, State Col¬ 
lege. Center Co., Pa. s. T. biery. 
Pennsylvania. 
More About Shade Trees. 
On page 683 under the title of “Good 
Shade Trees, A. C. W. advises the plant¬ 
ing of ( arolina poplars for shade trees; 
that may be all right for New York, but 
in central Maryland they are considered 
a nuisance. They have been largely 
planted in towns in this part of the 
State, but after a fair trial most of the 
town councils have forbidden the further 
planting and in two instances that I 
know of the town councils have ordered 
tlie fitting down of those already plant¬ 
ed. They make fairly good shade in 
May and June, hut about the first of 
.1 uly the leaves begin to drop, and by 
the time real hot weather gets here they 
The business man is an impor¬ 
tant factor in your daily life and 
happiness. 
He may raise wheat or cattle; he 
may manufacture flour or shoes; 
he may run a grocery or a drygoods 
store; he may operate a copper 
mine or a telephone company. He 
creates or distributes some com¬ 
modity to be used by other people. 
He is always hard at work to 
supply the needs of others, and in 
return he has his own needs sup¬ 
plied. 
All of us are doing business with 
business men so constantly that we 
accept the benefits of this inter¬ 
course without question, as we 
accept the air we breathe. Most of 
us have little to do with govern- 
ment, yet we recognize the differ¬ 
ence between business methods 
and government methods. 
We know that it is to the interest 
of the business man to do something 
for us, while the function of the 
government man is to see that we 
do something for ourselves — that 
is, to control and regulate. 
We pay them both, but of the 
two we naturally find the business 
man more get-at-able, more human, 
more democratic. 
Because the telephone business 
has become large and extensive, 
it requires a high type of organiza¬ 
tion and must employ the best 
business methods. 
The Bell System is in the busi¬ 
ness of selling its commodity — 
telephone service. It must meet 
the needs of many millions of cus¬ 
tomers, and teach them to use and 
appreciate the service which it has 
provided. 
The democratic relation between 
the customer and the business con¬ 
cern has been indispensable, pro¬ 
viding for the United States the best 
and most universal telephone serv¬ 
ice of any country in the world. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy One System Universal Service 
