1 1 36 
September 25, 1915, 
that'It is readily ignited by oven a weak 
electric spark. Conditions surrounding a 
thrasher on the Atlantic slope might not 
be as favorable to these explosions as on 
the upper Pacific, but there is always a 
danger from smutty grain and here is an 
additional reason for going through the 
simple operation of treating the seed. 
The State Fruit Auctions 
Peaches, plums, pears and apples are 
now bring sold at auction by the Depart¬ 
ment of Foods and Markets. Grapes will 
also be handled as they mature: and prob¬ 
ably other products so-:i, but for the 
present only the above fruits. 
During the warm weather this month 
considerable fruit was receive-' in the city 
in had condition by practically a.: "he re¬ 
ceivers. In one day the Board of Health 
destroyed three carloads of Bartlett pears 
and several carloads of peaches. Other 
cars of peaches sold as low as 5, 10 and 
15 cents a basket. This information is 
given in the hope of convincing growers of 
the folly of shipping soft or inferior 
grades of fruit to the New York market. 
In seasons of scarcity it sometimes does 
a little better; but now when large vol¬ 
umes of good and fancy fruit are com¬ 
ing in quantity, the shipper who gets 
freight and charges out of such ship¬ 
ments is an exception. No fruit except 
A. grades and fancy stock should be 
shipped to this market at the present 
time. This applies to all shipments, 
whether sent for auction or private sale. 
Grade the fruit in minimum sizes, and 
ship in grades, marking each package 
with the grade it contains. Keep culls, 
irregular and damaged fruits at home un¬ 
less you are able to market them locally. 
The Department has had some experi¬ 
ence already that may be helpful. It re¬ 
ceived one car of Bartlett pears contain¬ 
ing A-, B. and culls all mixed in the same 
barrels. The A. grades were, of course, 
fine, and if shipped separate would have 
sold for above $4 per barrel; as packed 
all grades sold for $3.12% a barrel. The 
next day we had a shipment from a care¬ 
ful packer, and the Bartletts sold readily 
at a little better than $4, and the whole 
shipment at top prices. We had a sim¬ 
ilar experience with a car of early 
peaches, the poor grades selling as low as 
17 cents a basket, while the better packed 
baskets in the same car at the same sale 
brought 50 cents, which was the top of 
the market at the time. The Department 
can sell good quality of fruit, carefully 
graded and shipped properly, at prices 
ruling higher than the private sales, and 
at 5 per cent, for cost of selling and guar¬ 
anteeing the account. Check is sent the 
day following sale; but it is useless under 
present conditions to hope for favorable 
returns from any receiver for inferior or 
badly graded fruit. Shippers from other 
sections send what the market wants, and 
those who do so, no matter where they 
come from, will get the preference. 
At this writing the market is clearing 
up. There is less and less of the poor 
fruit coming, and prices are tending to 
advance, and should rule good for some 
weeks to come. Just now good pears are 
in demand and State Elberta peaches, 
when pre-cooled and shipped in refriger¬ 
ator cars, are expected to be selling at 
good prices during their season. 
The Department is keeping close watch 
of the market, and will advise shippers 
promptly by letter or wire on request, as 
to prices and conditions. Shippers should 
make inquiry before shipping, but if 
pressed for time, ship Department of 
Foods and Markets, Desbrosses street 
Pier, and xvrite or wire the Department 
promptly giving contents of car in detail. 
Mail and telegrams should be addressed to 
the Department, 71 W. 23rd St-, New 
York. Attention to detail and care is 
necessary to make a success of this mar¬ 
keting business, especially with perish¬ 
able products. Our one ambition is to 
direct you right, and to establish a profit¬ 
able market for you. Through these de¬ 
tails you will help us to help you. 
The “ Packer” is Worried. 
Last week the “Packer” told its readers 
that Hudson River farmers w-ere not en¬ 
thusiastic over the auction proposition, 
and preferred to sell their fruit in the or¬ 
dinary commercial way. It said that Mr. 
Teator had sold his orchard to J. H. Kil- 
THli KUKAL 
lough & Company for $3.50 a barrel, and 
•seemed to- think this an argument against 
the auction plan. In view of such pub¬ 
licity it may be well for growers in other 
places to read the following letter from 
Mr. Teator: 
Dear Mr. Dillon: 
I am very confident that you have done 
the apple growers of New York a world of 
good, not only in the sales you effected, 
but in stimulating and hastening private 
sales at a goodly advance over previous 
prices. It has worked thus in this com¬ 
munity. Most of the orchards in our 
catalogue arc now disposed of in a way 
satisfactory to their owners- It is exact¬ 
ly the rescue that the producer needed. 
While personally I have not felt that I 
had much need of the auction, I am glad 
that you gave me a chance to help, and 
am gratified that so many of the leading 
growers are giving you their support. 
My own crop goes to Messrs. .1. II. 
Killough & Co., at $3.30. I turned down 
other equal opportunities. The price is 
fair, and I shall be glad to see them make 
some money. This sale now is relieving 
me of later responsibility, and I wish now 
to thank you—not only for myself—but 
for Bed Hook, for the way in which you 
have placed us to the front. 
Yours very truly, 
W. 8. TEATOR. 
If we allow the “Packer” credit for 
truth and sincerity, we cannot well deny 
it an indictment for stupidity and incom¬ 
petence. Its treatment of the apple sales 
during the past month may please com¬ 
mission dealers who look for fuel to feed 
their ire, but even they must convict it 
of want of candor or of ability to find the 
truth. 
A Commission Man’s Complaint. 
In a conversation with Mr. J. H. Rob¬ 
erts, a commission merchant on Washing¬ 
ton street, yesterday he asked me to put 
this question up to you. lie states you 
are trying to reduce the cost of living to 
the consumer, lie wants to know how you 
reconcile your attitude with these condi¬ 
tions. lie has a son-in-law living near 
Red Hook whom he visits weekly. A 
week before our sale of apples at Red 
Hook and Gardiner, growers, he said, were 
selling apple crops at $2.50 per barrel. A 
week after our sales they were getting $3, 
and in some cases $3.25. Mr. Roberts 
wishes me to ask you if you think this is 
consistent as to your position as stated 
in the first part of this letter- He did 
not, however, ask me as to how the apple 
growers of the State of Now York viewed 
the present situation as compared with 
conditions prevailing before our sales. 
E. L. GOOD SELL. 
My reply to Mr. Roberts is that the 
price at the farm does not, under present 
or past conditions, affect the cost to the 
consumer. The speculator who buys ap¬ 
ples at prices ranging from 90 cents to 
$2.50 a barrel, will demand the highest 
price he can get when he comes to sell. 
When forced to pay $3 or $3.25, the spec¬ 
ulator’s profits will be less. The con¬ 
sumer has to pay the highest limit any- 
way, and he will feel some satisfaction to 
know that the grower gets just a little 
more. 
The way to reduce the cost of living to 
the consumer is to reduce the cost of dis¬ 
tribution from the farm to the city home. 
Last year when the farmer got $1.50 to 
$2 less freight and commissions and other 
charges, the consumers of the city paid 
from $10 a barrel up. That is 500 per 
cent, or better- This year we have the 
promise of many stores to sell at a profit 
of 20 per cent., provided we get a steady 
supply to sell them at auction and estab¬ 
lish standards and prices. This will mean 
an increased consumption, and larger and 
better and steadier shipments, all of 
which will benefit the consumer. It is 
the cost of distribution and not the price 
received by the farmer that makes the cost 
of living high in the city. 
A Bulletin on Mosquitoes. 
In traveling through the West we have 
found that a good many people had a 
common joke about New' Jersey. These 
people did not realize that some of the 
best farming in the country is done in 
New Jersey—some of the most profitable 
land is cultivated there, some of the 
largest crops of corn and potatoes are 
grown, that prices are high and that 
you cannot get anywhere inside of the 
State more than six miles away from 
the railroad. All these things seem to 
be lost upon many people who live out¬ 
side of the State, and they will tell you 
that all that New Jersey raises is mos¬ 
quitoes and “trusts.” How often we have 
heard the old joke of the Jerseyman out 
on one of the salt marshes who was 
chased for his life by a flock of mos- 
NEW-VOKKER 
quitoes. To save himself he crawled into 
an old boiler and was unable to get out 
from under it. According to the story, 
the mosquitoes chased him and were so 
eager to get him that they drove their 
bills through the steel sides of the boiler. 
He stood on the inside and with a ham¬ 
mer clinched their bills on the underside, 
and finally enough of them was thus 
clinched to enable them to fly and carry 
the boiler away with them. This seemed 
to be a standard joke on the Jersey 
bird, or mosquito. The fact is, that 
New Jersey has certainly done more to 
control or exterminate the mosquito than 
any other State in the Union; in fact, 
the warfare against this rascal was start¬ 
ed and developed by the New Jersey en¬ 
tomologists, and they have made greater 
progress than any other State in cleaning 
out these pests. Most people seem to ac¬ 
cept the mosquito as an unavoidable nuis¬ 
ance, something they are obliged to stand 
whether they want to or not, wdien the 
fact is that under most circumstances 
the mosquito and also the house-fly can 
be practically exterminated and driven 
out of business. In New Jersey the prob¬ 
lem is greatly complicated because of 
the salt marshes which stretch along the 
shore and have provided ideal breeding 
places for this pest. The State is now 
taking up these marshes one by one, 
draining them and getting rid of the 
mosquitoes. Those who arc interested in 
the mosquito (and who is not?) should 
obtain Bulletin 27C, issued by the New 
Jersey Experiment Station. This is en¬ 
titled, “The Mosquitoes of New Jersey 
and Their Control.” It gives the life 
history and the habits of 30 or 40 differ¬ 
ent varieties, which are fully pictured. 
The bulletin tells what the State has done 
in the way of lighting the mosquitoes 
and gives some sound advice about organ¬ 
izing a campaign against them. It is an 
educational bulletin which ought to be 
kept for reference. 
Briefly stated, the mosquitoes which 
give us most trouble in our houses pass 
through four stages of existence. The 
eggs are laid in water or in moist mud. 
From these eggs hatch the little creature 
which is known as the “wiggler,” so 
often seen in shallow or stagnant water 
in pounds or pools. This “wiggler” de¬ 
velops finally into the winged adult. Only 
the female mosquito ever bites. It takes 
about eight days for the mosquito to 
develop from the egg to the adult. In 
most of our houses this adult mosquito 
lives over Winter in cellars or dry places 
around rubbish or outbuildings. In the 
Spring it comes out and lays its eggs 
in shallow stagnant water and from these 
the season’s supply of new mosquitoes de¬ 
velops. The most practical way to at¬ 
tack the mosquito on farms or around 
homes is to see that no pools or ponds 
of stagnant water are lfeft. The mosquito 
egg cannot develop unless such stagnant 
water is present. Sometimes an old tin 
can or an old dish left half full of water 
in a rubbish pile forms a place for the 
breeding of thousands of these mosquitoes. 
If all such things can be kept emptied 
and every pool drained or filled, no mos¬ 
quito could be hatched out. It would not 
mean that if every pool on your own 
farm were drained there would be no mos¬ 
quitoes at all, as they may fly in from 
quite a distance. It is, however, true 
that if throughout an entire community 
all or most of the stagnant pools were 
emptied in this way, the mosquito crop 
would be a very poor one. This bulletin 
is an excellent statement of the mosquito 
proposition and will interest anyone who 
has ever been bitten by the pest and is 
willing to do something to prevent such 
an occurrence. 
Spread oe Gypsy Motti. —The Agricul¬ 
tural Department show from their inves¬ 
tigation that the wind is chiefly respon¬ 
sible for the general spread of the gypsy 
moth in New England. It seems that this 
pest during the last 40 years has gained 
an average of five miles or so a year in 
the Northeast, in consequence of the pre- 
vailing winds during the season. To the 
North the gain has been at the rate of 2% 
miles a year, while in other directions the 
spreading has been slower. The quaran¬ 
tine on lumber products, Christmas trees, 
and nursery stock, from the infested ter¬ 
ritory has helped, but there is still great 
necessity for hard work in keeping this 
pest from spreading so fast. 
Kellys TREES 
The Kind That "Make Good." True to Name—Free I 
from Disease. Apple, Pear, Peach, Plum,Cher- \ 
ry and Quine© Trees, also small Fruits and 
Ornamentals, shipped direct to your orch 
ard at Growers’ Prices. 36 yearn' experience 
in growing trees enables us to ship you guaranteed stock i 
a low figur*. Write for free wholesale catalog toriaj and read I 
onr binding guarantee. Now is the time to plant Apple Trees. [ 
Kelly Bros. Wholesale Nurseries 31 Main St. Dansville, N.Y. 
^ You'll never regret jdanting Kelly Tree. 
HARDY FRUIT TREES 
Apple, Plum, Pear ami Cherry; also small fruits, 
ornamental trees and shrubs, direct from grower 
to planter. Write for free illustrated catalogue. 
WELLS WHOLESALE NUKSKKIES 
73 Wellesley Ave., - .Dansville, N. Y. 
A profitable 
M r> un sort for gen- 
Jl kZCLI O mal markets 
For Fall Planting ?e?ved e *> e a 
barrel the 
past two seasons. Strong trees of Bose and 
other Pears, Apples, Cherries, for fall plant¬ 
ing, Send for Fraser’s Tree Book —free. 
Samuel Fraser, 126 Main st., Geneseo, N.Y. 
maioney's trees 
For fall planting. Thousands of Frnii, Nut and 
Ornamental Trees, Vines, Bushes and Shrubs, 
grown in our own nurseries and fully 
- guaranteed. Maloney Quality plus Maloney 
Personal Service is your best tree insurance. 
F Write for free wholesale catalogue. Wo 
p are the largest growers in New York and sell 
A-l stock at the right price. Write today. 
MALONEY BROS. & WELLS CO., Dansville, N. Y. 
Box 19. Dansville’s Pioneer Wholesale Nurseries 
DWARF 
TREES 
APPLE 
PEAR 
PLUM 
CHERRY 
PEACH 
4-THEY BEAR LIKE THIS 
Fall Planting Bulletin Free 
THE VAN DUSEN NURSERIES 
Box R, Geneva, N. Y. 
ENGLISH WALNUT TREES FOR FALLr^-f/^ 
brings booklet. Du.iel N. Pomeroy & Son, Lockport, N.Y* 
AUDI C DADDTI C— Best standard. Hand made. 
Hr r Ll DHtinuLO number. Prompt ship¬ 
ment. ItOIJT. GILLIES, Medina, New York 
_Dreer’s_ 
Choice Farm Seeds 
Winter Vetch (Vida vuiosa) 
Valuable as a Winter cover crop, also for hay 
and green manure. Vicia Villosa is the only 
reiia ble Vetch for Fall sowing. Write for our 
leaflet and price of seed. 
Dreer’s Autumn Catalogue 
offers a list of Farm Seeds for Fall sowing 
including Wheat, Dwarf Essex Rape, Grass 
and Clover seeds, also a complete list of 
Spring-Flowering I’.ulbs, Hyacinths, Tulips, 
Narcissus, Crocus, Lilies, etc. Write for copy 
and mention this Publication. 
Henry A. Dreer 
714-716 Chestnut St., Phila., Pa. 
For Sale-The Hemingway Farms 
offer their surplus German cattle heels—Ifi per ton, 
F. O. B. I.ess than car loads at $7 per ton; pur- 
ehaserto furnish sacks. Ponltrymen are our heavy 
buyers. T. E. HA It LOAV, Supt., Auburn, N.Y. 
PURE FIELD SEEDS 
SEED WHEAT— Red Wave. Poole, and Winter King. 
Clover, Timothy, Alslke, Alfalfa, and all kinds of Pure 
Field Seedsdireet from producer toconsuraer. Kree from 
Noxious weeds. Ask for samples. BIG TYPE Polvnd China’s, March 
and April pigs ai reaaonable prices. A. C. HOYT S CO., Fosloria. Ohio 
Cabbage and Celery Plants 
fine stocky plants, of all the Leading Varieties, $1 
per 1,000; $8.50 per 10,000. J. C. Schmidt, Bristol. Pa. 
Dneclon Pillruo SEED RYE. Rank grower. Enormous 
ItUooldll rllMJo yielder. $1.30 perbu.. sow until freezing 
Supply limited. Orderearly. Cloverdale Farm, Charlotte, N. Y. 
POT-GROWN STRAWBERRY PLANTS ^ Chesapeake, 
Early Ozark, Gandy, Glen Mary, Ryckman, Sam¬ 
ple, Senator Dnnlap. Steven's Late Champion, 
William Belt. Harry L. Squires, Remsenburg, N. t. 
STRAWBERRY PLAN '“ft* 
55 varieties, including the FALL HEARING 
Asparagus Roots, etc. Catalogue free. 
J. Keifford Hall, Route %, Rhodesdale, Md. 
CA Quarts of Strawberries Next Spring 
W W from 100 plants. All my plants are now well 
l ooted. 100 strong-root.ed young plants for $1.50. 25 
YEARS’ SPECIALIST. SEND FOR MID-SUMMER Catalogue. 
T. C. KEVITT, - - Athenia, N. J. 
Qlrawhorru Planfc l ,ot Prown, and layer plants in- 
OTranDBlTy rldlHS eluding all the best up-to-date, 
varieties, 75 cents per 100, $3.50 per 1.000, Everbear¬ 
ing, $1.50 per 100, $10.00 per 1,000. 
E. YV. Townsend, Hox 265, Salisbury, Md. 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS 
RUNNER and POT-GROWN; ready for planting now. 
Will bear fruit next summer. RASPBERRY and BLACK¬ 
BERRY PLANTS and FRUIT TREES. Catalogue free. 
Agents wanted. HARRY L. SQUIRES, Remsenburo, N. Y. 
RED WIVE SEED WHElTlf^ffim'^bK 
more. Write IN’* DONALDSON, Jewett, (). 
GARDEN AND FARM BOOKS 
Vegetable Gardening, Watts . 
. ,?1.75 
Productive Vegetable Growing, Lloyd 1.50 
Garden Farming, Corbett . 
.. 2.00 
Manures and Fertilizers, Wheeler. 
.. 1.60 
Farm Manures, Thorne . 
.. 1.50 
Farm Management, Warren . 
.. 1.75 
Irrigation and Drainage, King .. 
.. 1.50 
For sale by THE RURAL 
NEW- 
YORKER, 333 W. 30th St„ New 
York. 
