1198 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BrSlEESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal lor Country and Suburban HniucK 
Established tsao 
Published weekly by Ibe Knral Publishing Company, 8.13 West 30th Street, New Yortt 
Herbert W. COLLING wood. President and Editor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. E. T. Royle. Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries In the Universal Postal Union, 82.04, equal to 8s. 6d., or 
8>S marks, or in', francs. Itemit in money order, express 
order!” personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, 73 cents |ier aerate line—7 words. Deferences required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAR” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon 
ailile (ici-son. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. Rut to make doubly sure, we will make pood any loss 
to paid subscribe!* * sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleadinp advertisements In our columns, and any 
Buell swindler will be publicly exposed. We nre also often called upon 
to adjust differences or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willinply use our pood 
offices to this end, but such cases should not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers apainst ropues. but we will not he 
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 of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention The Rural New - 
Yorker when writing the advertise r. 
A T the apple auction held at Gardiner, N. Y„ an 
orchard belonging to Miss Mary Deyo was sold 
to good advantage. The fact that a woman had 
developed a valuable orchard as a business invest¬ 
ment attracted great interest—as might be expected. 
New possibilities open before a farmer’s daughter 
if she can establish a good orchard, care for it and 
have it sold as this one was at auction. We all 
want to know about such things, and so in the next 
Women and Home number Miss Deyo will tell us 
how she did it. We can promise one of the most in¬ 
teresting and useful articles our farm women have 
ever read. 
* 
S INCE we printed that article on shipping apples 
by parcel post we have been overrun with let¬ 
ters about it. Many apple men are trying to work 
up the plan of selling by sample. It does not pay 
to send a bushel or more by express, but a small 
package by parcel post will enable them to show 
what they have without great expense. The con¬ 
tainer must he strong and solid and the apples must 
be firm and well packed. Some of us in using that 
parcel post have expected Uncle Sam to do more 
than his share and carry goods safely when they 
were not properly packed. We must do our share 
in starting the package right. We have never been 
very enthusiastic over shipping eggs or peaches ny 
parcel post, though it is evident that some are send¬ 
ing these articles with satisfaction. 
* 
A GOOD many farmers are preparing to can sup¬ 
plies of beef, mutton and pork this Winter. This 
will give a home supply of fresh meat and something 
more to sell. No doubt an enterprising farmer could 
slaughter several meat animals and sell the canned 
meat to advantage. What about the pure food 
laws? Such sale would he permitted without ques¬ 
tion inside the State in which the meat was carried. 
When sent out of the State the shipment goes into 
interstate commerce and comes under the Federal 
law. This law permits such shipment of pure, whole¬ 
some food properly prepared from sound meat. 
The government has the right to inspect the fann¬ 
er’s premises the same as it would a large packing 
house, hut it may also waive inspection if thought 
best. If any of our readers think of selling canned 
meat our advice is to write the Bureau of Animal 
Industry at Washington and ask for a blank applica¬ 
tion for exemption. Fill out this blank as required 
and you can probably obtain a certificate granting 
full right to ship the meat. It pays to walk in 
step with Uncle Sam rather than to try to beat him. 
* 
T HIS auction system of selling fruit will do us 
all good in several ways, besides a possible in¬ 
crease in the 35-cent dollar. It will convince us all 
that proper grading and packing are absolutely nec¬ 
essary. The very nature of the auction system 
makes it necessary for the grade to be uniform. 
When an orchard is offered the buyer can examine 
the fruit on (he trees. lie knows what it is and 
assumes no risk in buying "sight unseen.” When 
he bids on a carload of sealed or packed fruit he 
takes a risk which is based on the reputation of 
the shipper and packer. He takes greater risk than 
when he buys from a commission man. In the lat¬ 
ter case he may have a better chance to examine 
the goods and can come back and demand a rebate 
in case he finds the quality poor, or in case he 
learns that others buy at a lower price. Thus it 
will be the poorest business policy to send culls or 
poorly packed fruit to the auction. Good fruit of 
uniform grade and pack in the end brings more at 
the auction than at private sale as soon as buyers 
recognize the brand. Thus the auction will be one 
of the best of educators by showing the compelling 
necessity of good packing and grading. In another 
way the auction will help the consumer by showing 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
just how much margin there is between what the 
dealers pay and the retail price. At present there 
is no way of determining this. By following the 
auction markets consumers may know the cash 
wholesale price—actually paid. Then they can tell 
whether the retail price is fair. If they are still 
held up they can organize buyers’ clubs and buy at 
the auction themselves. 
I N the crusade for better mail service for parcel 
post eggs let us first understand what Uncle Sam 
offers to do. Here are the regulations for parcel 
post shipment, showing what the Postal Department 
calls for:— 
Section 475, Par. 5. Eggs shall be accepted for local 
delivery when so packed in a basket or other container 
as to prevent damage to other mail matter. 
Par. 6. Eggs shall be accepted for mailing, regard¬ 
less of distance, when each egg is wrapped separately 
and surrounded with excelsior, cotton or other suitable 
material, and packed in a strong container, made of 
double-faced corrugated pasteboard, metal, wood or 
other suitable material, and wrapped so that nothing 
can escape from the package. All such parcels shail 
be labeled “EGGS”. 
Par. 7. Eggs in parcels weighing more than twenty 
pounds shall be accepted for mailing to offices in the 
first and second zones when packed in crates, boxes, 
buckets or other containers having tight bottoms to 
prevent the escape of anything from the package, and 
so constructed as properly to protect the contents. Such 
packages to he marked “Eggs—this side up,” and to be 
transported outside mail hags. 
Thus the first thing which will follow a com¬ 
plaint will be an inquiry about the package. If 
these regulations have been complied with the ship¬ 
per will have a good chance for redress. But the 
eggs must lie properly packed to begin with. 
* 
W E have the following note from a nursery¬ 
man : 
I notice in The Rural New-Yorker about the best 
gospel in regard to buying trees that I have ever seen 
advocated, certainly by an agricultural paper. I do 
not believe that the reason I approve is just because 
it happens to touch our business, but it applies io 
every last thing I have ever yet bought. I don’t be¬ 
lieve I ever went “shopping” for bargains that I didn’t 
get “shopped” instead. 
The point we tried to make was that from the 
very nature of the goods a “bargain” in nursery 
trees is most likely to lead to misfits. Think a mo¬ 
ment and you Avill see that the only way to make 
sure that a tree is true is for some responsible per¬ 
son to have full oversight and direction of the work 
of budding, grafting and handling. He must do 't 
himself or know it is done by trustworthy hands. 
This is particularly true of nursery trees, more so 
than with most other kinds of goods. You know 
that such personal oversight costs money, and it 
carries values into goods. No man is able to obtain 
high prices for his goods from year to year unless 
they contain character, which must come from' fliis 
personal selection and oversight. It may he possi¬ 
ble to obtain high prices for inferior goods for a 
time, but the years test out the imposters or careless 
workers, and their goods go to the bargain counter. 
A “bargain” nine times out of 10 means some¬ 
thing inferior or a little out of date. Of course 
there are cases where agents like Whiting “graft 
guff" into the tree and charge you for it, hut no* 
sensible man in these times should give such offers 
a thought. What we mean to say is that the man 
who goes hunting for “bargains” must expect to get 
his fingers burned now and then. 
* 
T HERE are many people in New York State who 
do not think as highly as they might of Wm. 
Barnes Jr. We think that twilight has come to the 
day of Mr. Barnes, but in his last fight against 
political reform in the recent constitutional conven¬ 
tion he made one strong and true remark. He said, 
in effect, that the public have too many new things 
put up to them, one after another in rapid succes¬ 
sion, so that they are unable to think seriously and 
surely through any one to a definite conclusion. 
The result is a sort of mental dyspepsia on the part 
of the people, which makes it impossible for them 
to digest and thus assimilate real reforms. That is 
absolutely true, and many of the magazines and 
papers are responsible for it. They are constantly 
hunting for the sensational, no matter whether it 
he true or practical so long as it excites curiosity 
or appeals to the excitable element in the human 
mind. They will carry it until it becomes tiresome 
and then drop it for some new fad. This has been 
a favorite trick of the politicians. Whenever the 
people become restless they lead after some at¬ 
tractive will-o’-the-wisp on the theory that men 
will exhaust their energies in a fruitless chase after 
“freedom” and then come back once more to the 
yoke. Many of our newspapers rush in to discuss 
every new fad or theory as if it were a proven fact, 
with the result that if their readers follow them at 
all they live in a mental turmoil incapable of set¬ 
tling upon a few basic and vital facts. Some of 
October 2, 1915. 
these papers seem to think it indicates a weakness 
if they ever admit their ignorance of any proposi¬ 
tion under the sun. So they talk with owl-like wis¬ 
dom which betrays itself as “stuff.” Many years of 
close intimacy with farmers has convinced us that 
it is infinitely better to take a few leading and vital 
questions and try to make them a point of popular 
thought by constant illustration and argument. 
Many a reform starts out with a great noise until 
it reaches the point where people see that in order 
to put it through there must he personal sacrifice 
and probably some personal loss. Then it will be¬ 
come unpopular unless the people can he made to 
see that the ultimate gain will he far greater than 
the present loss. It is at this point that most of 
the papers and “leaders” desire to quit and try 
another more “popular” measure. It seems to us 
wiser and better if the reform is true to stay by it 
and attempt to make the people see that only 
through their own sacrifices and patience can it be 
made worth while. We think Mr. Wm. Barnes Jr. 
is on the wrong side of most public questions, be¬ 
cause he seems to think the “constitution” of a na¬ 
tion is greater than the people who make it.. He 
is right, however, in his idea that half a dozen re¬ 
forms backed by old-fashioned honesty to the end 
will he better than 500 “popular” fads of legislation. 
* 
T HOUSANDS of our readers will be saddened to 
learn of the death of Joseph E. Wing of Ohio. 
This genial, kindly man had endeared himself to a 
host of loving friends who will miss him as they 
would a member of their family. He was “Joe” 
Wing to everybody. We saw him last at the New 
York State Breeders’ meeting. He was still suffer¬ 
ing from a serious accident, and looked worn and 
frail. We shall not forget how he held that audi¬ 
ence with the simple story of his father and then- 
start in sheep raising. It was a gloomy day, and 
circumstances had cast a depression upon the meet¬ 
ing, but Joe Wing’s simple story came with appealing 
effect. It was a masterpiece, although he was evi¬ 
dently feeble and ill. Joe Wing wrote books that 
will live. The tribute to his father in the preface 
to “Alfalfa” will take rank among the beautiful 
word groupings of the English language. A strong, 
kindly, earnest, faithful friend of farmers. That 
was Joe Wing. lie lived his life well. He will be 
missed. 
* 
A T the fruit auction held in Western New York 
last week the apple buyers took a new tack. 
Some of them were present, but they refused to hid 
and thus no sales were made. Crowds of growers 
and farmers attended and the best of feeling pre¬ 
vailed. The growers sized up the situation accurate¬ 
ly, and they now fully realize that the battle is on 
and that they must help themselves. If the buyers 
had been wise they would have met the growers 
fairly and bid for the fruit if they wanted it. That 
would have made good feeling between buyer and 
producer, and the latter would have felt that the 
buyers are willing to meet him half way on the road 
to an evident reform. The refusal of the buyers to 
come out into fair, open competition for the fruit 
will not frighten the growers into giving their crop 
away. On the other hand it will prove just the 
thing needed to convince the growers that the only 
way for them to he free is to go right in and make 
the auction market a success. They can easily do 
that if they will stand together, put up a strong 
front and send their fruit to the auction. The buy¬ 
ers have misjudged the temper of these farmers if 
they think bluff or boycott will frighten them. At 
each of these sales the farmers became enthusiastic 
for the auction and promised to sell their fruit. 
After the first auction at Red Hook we said that 
even if not a single apple had been sold, this one 
event put half a million dollars in the pockets of 
the Hudson River apple growers. These sales in 
Western New York will mean far more than that, 
even though not a bid was made. They will con¬ 
vince the growers as nothing else has done that the 
buyers do not want fair, open competitive buying 
and that the only way to obtain that is to patronize 
the auction. After the sale at Interlaken the De¬ 
partment managers assisted in closing a contract 
with a Philadelphia buyer for an orchard at Penn 
Yan. This orchard of about 3,500 barrels of Bald¬ 
wins and Greenings sold, A and B grades, at $3.25. 
Practically all the good fruit listed at these sales 
will he sent to the auction. 
Brevities. 
I)o you not judge a farm or its farmer by the ap¬ 
pearance of the home—as you pass it by? It is a good 
way to judge. 
We find in European papers serious advice about 
how to feed potato vines to stock. All sorts of forage 
will be needed on the other side. 
