922 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban llomci 
Established iSSO 
Pnbllshod weekly by the Knral Publishing Company. 8* *3 West 80th Street. New Tortt 
If ERBETtT W. COIXIXGWOOD, President and Editor. 
Jon.v J. Dielon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wit. F. Dillon, Secretary- Mrs. E. T. Royle, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $2.01, equal to 8s. 6d., or 
8!<j marks, or 10k francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, 75 cents per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
"A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this end, but such cases should not bo confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not be 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of the time or 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention Thk Rurat. New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
I T is becoming a practice to try to top-work “mis¬ 
fit” peach trees. There are a good many such, and 
in former years they were ripped out as soon as dis¬ 
covered. Now quite a number of growers are trying 
the plan of top-working these misfits by budding. 
. The cost of such top-working should not equal that 
of buying and planting new trees, and would gain 
one year and perhaps two in fruiting. It requires 
some skill to bud these large trees properly, but 
where it can be done right the plan is likely to be¬ 
come popular. We have some articles coming which 
will explain the method, but it must be learned by 
experience. 
* 
N OT long since there came a question from a 
practical farmer on an important matter. We 
sent it to an expert for answer. He says: 
I was at first minded to send the subscriber’s letter 
back, becuuse unless he is more practical in his work 
handling sheep than in asking questions about the 
business he is sure to make a failure anyway. I expect, 
however, that an editor must be considerate. 
There is no law to compel consideration on the 
part of an editor. lie does not have to be, but he is 
not an editor unless he has some consideration. 
We are often hampered in our work through the 
failure of correspondents to tell us clearly what 
they want to know. One gets to be something of a 
mind-reader in this business, and we do our best, 
but it will help if the questioner will take time to 
make his wants clear. 
* 
ii "j\/TINERAL waters!” Last year 54,358,406 gal- 
IVA ions of these drinking waters were bottled 
and sold in this country, at a value of $4,892,328 at 
the spring. This means about eight cents a gallon. In 
addition to this 6,261,743 gallons were used in “soft 
drinks.” Some years ago one of our readers saw 
two wagons drive up to a country station in Ver¬ 
mont. One carried a load of milk, the other water 
from a well-known spring. Investigation showed 
that the spring water actually brought more money 
per gallon than the milk did! We have had farmers 
reason from this that they could put water from 
their spring on the market and make a great profit. 
They would probably fail, because putting spring 
water upon the market requires large capital and 
the best of advertising skill. 
* 
L AST week we mentioned a legal case in Ver¬ 
mont which hinges on the question whether Al¬ 
falfa is “grass.” If it is grass, a farmer who shot 
a trespassing deer must pay a fine of $100, since the 
Vermont law apparently permits wild deer to eat a 
farmer’s grass, but not cultivated crops. Now comes 
a case from Minnesota which was based on the dif¬ 
ference between a mule and a horse. There is a 
standing offer of a reward for arresting a horse- 
thief. A thief stole a pair of mules, and his captor 
claimed the reward. His lawyer argued that a mule 
is half a horse; therefore two mules make one horse 
—but the courts have decided against him. Until 
. the offer of reward definitely states horse or mule 
thief the mule has no more legal standing than he 
has of pedigree! 
❖ 
D OWN through Central Georgia a great farm 
revolution is going on. It started with the 
development of peach growing, and has spread 
through all lines of farming. Nearly 20 years ago 
the writer stood in the peach packing house in J. 
II. Hale’s Georgia orchard talking with an old-time 
planter. This man saw that section under slavery, 
and in ruin after the Civil War. As he watched 
that wonderful peach crop passing through the pack¬ 
ing shed all he could say was: 
“If we had a dozen Hales here we would double 
our population in 10 years!” 
He did not mean quite that, but he had the vision 
to see that his people would slowly but surely pick 
up some of the “hustle” and ambition of that busy 
scene, and apply it to those Georgia farms. The 
old man was right That peach business stirred up 
Georgia farming. It brought in cash which was 
spent for labor. Much of that money went to buy 
seeds and tools and stock for the workmen, and they 
began to practice, on their own farms, some of the 
methods which made those peach orchards produc¬ 
tive. Hide over that section now and you will see 
what wonders have grown from these small begin¬ 
nings. You will find great fields of Alfalfa, clover, 
cow peas and grass, great cornfields and herds of 
live stock. In fact, unknown to most of us, that 
Southern country is becoming as fertile and rich in 
resources as the Central Mississippi Valley, and is 
putting to shame in the intelligent use of its re¬ 
sources, many communities which have become self- 
satisfied through prosperity. Here is a case where 
a special industry like peach growing has caused 
a great development in general farming. 
* 
I N spite of the high price of seed (15 cents or 
more per pound) many farmers are planning to 
sow Hairy vetch as a cover crop. If they do it will 
pay to inoculate the seed or the soil. In the great 
majority of cases vetch proves close to a failure 
the first time it is seeded unless inoculation is pro¬ 
vided for. We should use soil from some field 
where vetch has succeeded, or one of the commercial 
cultures on the seed. Our own experience is that 
unless this is done the first time seeding with vetch 
will fail two times out of three. 
* 
T HE yelping of the so-called trade papers over 
the suggested plan for selling New York apples 
at auction will not frighten any farmers who have 
ever sold produce in New York City. If these pa¬ 
pers hung out a sign painted in big letters 
This Auction Plan Will Kill Grafting and 
Speculation. 
they could not be more convincing than they are 
through their yelps and howls. These papers do not 
fight for or educate farmers—they exploit them, 
and, what is more, the farmers understand it. The 
market situation has been controlled by a few 
shrewd men who have been able to control prices^ 
secretly and without fair competition. The pro¬ 
posed auction system will lay the foundation for re¬ 
form by establishing open price-making. Read the 
article on the next page. This auction plan means 
even more than price-making and reform in mar¬ 
keting—it gives New York apple growers their first 
real chance to work together for independence. 
Here is a chance to fight with your apples instead 
of throwing them away. 
* 
M ANY of our readers have evidently heard about 
the new Virginia dog law which was passed 
designedly for the protection of sheep owners. Un¬ 
der this law it is a misdemeanor punishable by a 
fine of $50 for any owner to let his dog run at 
large. Anyone may keep a dog, but the animal 
must be kept at home. Any farmer may shoot a 
lone dog if found on his property. The owner of 
the dog may bring suit for damages, but in doing so 
he must, of course, prove that his dog was off his 
own premises, alone, and thus liable to $50 fine. 
The dog is safe when at home or when accompan¬ 
ied by his owner! This law does not become effect¬ 
ive until the voters of a county endorse it. It is a 
local option law, and the voters may accept or reject 
it as they see fit. Such a law, voted by a majority, 
and fairly enforced, would settle the dog question. 
Who will claim that any man has the right to turn 
an irresponsible dog at large any more than cattle or 
other live stock? Would the voters in your county 
support such a dog law? 
* 
T HE warring nations of Europe are firing many 
“ifs” these days—almost as many as of shells. 
We are told that if England had shut off imports 
of cotton into Germany, or if France had been bet¬ 
ter prepared, if Belgium had not held Germany back 
for a few weeks, or if Russia had been better sup¬ 
plied with ammunition, great things would have hap¬ 
pened. Very likely—the shady side of an “if” is 
a fine place to tell what might have been. Success 
seems to come through anticipating the “if.” Now 
this proposed auction sale of New York apples 
promises to be a turning point in the campaign for 
a larger share of the consumer’s dollar. It can es¬ 
tablish a price for apples, and that is the foundation 
of the whole thing. There is an “if” in it which we 
must root out early in order to make it spell suc¬ 
cess. If the fruit growers will furnish the apples 
the Department can sell them, but the supply must 
be constant and provided for before the work starts. 
Would it not be a shame if next year we were 
obliged to say, “The auction system of selling would 
july 17, 1915. 
have been a great success if the fruit growers had 
only backed it up?” Here is a case where the “if” 
can be cut out before we start business. 
* 
F ARMERS of Great Britain who can see more 
than one season ahead realize what is coming 
in the way of future taxation. A tremendous and 
horrible debt is piling up. and children yet unborn 
will find themselves at middle age still struggling 
to pay for the powder and ball which England is 
now buying. The great burden of this debt will fall 
upon farmers. They must not only pay their direct 
share of this debt, but being the great purchasing 
class for domestic articles they will find the taxes 
of other interests worked off upon them in an in¬ 
crease of price! The wisest of the English farmers 
see this coming. The Mark Lane Express puts it 
this way: 
Agriculture is not prepared to see history repeated 
and to bear much more than its share. Whether we 
shall escape with anything like reason will depend very 
largely on the strength of the Farmers’ Union. There 
are other problems ripe for settlement as soon as ever 
we see the approaching end of the war. England’s fu¬ 
ture is going to depend to a much greater extent on 
good farming, and in that happier era good farming 
must be encouraged, and not be penalized by high rents. 
We put it to you as a definite proposition that 
farmers everywhere can never hope to defend them¬ 
selves unless they can in some way combine their 
interests and work togther. “Equal rights and hon¬ 
est share!” 
* 
W HO pays our taxes? The final consumer 
whenever it is possible to work them off 
upon him. The liquor men are busy just now in 
telling what their business does in paying our taxes. 
Do they really pay any taxes? They claim that rum 
pays $325,000,000 yearly, but a writer in the New 
York Sun gets back at them this way: 
When taxes are levied upon any article of commerce 
the tax is always added to the price which must be 
paid by the consumers. 
This is the economic law which cannot be repealed by 
statements put forth by the liquor interests. The liquor 
interests as such pay no tax whatever. The tax is 
paid by the people who use the liquors. When the 
saloon keeper collects the dimes and nickels from the 
drinkers of intoxicating liquors he is collecting all the 
taxes levied on the liquor industry, as well as the cost 
of manufacture and sale, together with such profit as 
there may be in the business. 
You can easily carry it still further. This rum 
tax is not all paid by the consumer, but is gouged 
out of his family. Ask any grocer or shoemaker or 
butcher or farmer who deals direct with consumers 
if the families of confirmed drinking men are good 
pay, or if they buy all the food they would if there 
were no saloon to get father’s money! The family 
pays most of the tax which the liquor men brag 
about. If there were no saloons most of this money 
would find its way to the farmer, or to workmen 
who make necessities, and they in their turn would 
have more to spend. 
Brevities. 
Cold water is the antidote for hot air. 
Japan has imported 100,000 trout eggs from this 
country. 
What would you really think of a boy who actually 
liked to work without pay? That boy would stand 
watching. 
The Germans are using dried chicory roots as a sub¬ 
stitute for oats in feeding horses—with fair results. 
It is claimed that poultry are more than fond of the 
leaves of dock. 
An egg noodle—the goose that kept on laying the 
golden egg when she saw how it affected her master. 
The world needs constructive critics rather than de¬ 
structive kickers. 
What is a broiler? The pullet’s little brother. He 
should be thankful he can help pay his sister’s board. 
In former years she had to pay for both. 
One hundred dollars a ton was the price asked by 
Japanese shipbuilders for building a vessel. Five cents 
a pound! 
We see some of the best plowmen we know going 
into the field with a milk can full of water. That 
shows watered milk—of human kindness, for this is 
a drink for the horses. 
There should be a balanced ration of mental food as 
well as food for the body. All thought along one line 
makes a narrow mind. Thus history or poetry may 
have a useful place in a farmer’s reading. 
“Agriculture” as an occupation covers a wide va- 
rietv of products. A locality is now reported from 
Mexico where the inhabitants make a living at catching 
flies. These flies are pressed and dried and sold as bird 
food. 
Several farmers find a quantity of silage left in the 
silo. It will not spoil. The Wisconsin College ad¬ 
vises : “In case of doubt, cover what silage remains 
with straw, hay or barn sweepings, tramp down hard 
and dampen thoroughly. At corn harvest remove the 
covering and fill as usual. You’ll never know the dif¬ 
ference.” 
The way to improve the agriculture of a section is 
to improve the farmers. The way to improve the 
farmers is to get them to realize that their business is 
prosperous. The way to do that is to show them how 
to get closer to the consumer and thus receive a fairer 
share of his dollar. Can you really improve agriculture 
in any other way? 
