202 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FABMEB'S PAPER 
K National \\ eokly Journal for C'oiintry aud Suburban Ilomcfi 
EfitabIiahfd isao 
rublbhrd wrpkijr by the Rpral Pnbliablnir Company, 33.1 We«t 30(h Street. New Tork 
Herbert W. Colmsgwood, Prcaident and Kditor. 
•Toiin .1. DibbON, Tre.'aurer anil General Manstj^er. 
W M. K. Dibbos, Secretary. _ Mrs. K. T. R orbB. .kssoelate Kditor. 
SUBSCRIPTION: ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign conntricR In the Universal Postal I'nlon. $2.01, eqnal to 8 s. 6 d.. or 
8)2 marks, or 10)4 francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at Xew York Post Office as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates. 7.5 cents per aprate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and ca.sh must accompany transient orders. 
“A SQUARE DEAL” 
Nt e believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon- 
aible ijeiwn. We nse every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any Toss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irresjion- 
sible adverOsers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such ^w^dler will bo publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
to adJuM diiierenccs or mistakes between our subscribers and honest, 
rosponaibie hoaficfl, whether advcrfiRcrs or not. We willingly ■use our g^ood 
oflTicefi to this end, but such Bhould not bo confused with diRhonost 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but wo will not be 
resjwnirfble for the debts of honest bamcrupts sanctioned by tho courts, 
Notice of the complaint must be sent to us within one month of tho time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention Thk Rcral New- 
Yorkkr when writing the advertiser. 
T GOT “stung” a while ago by a Mr. Whiting of 
tjenevii Nui'sery. lie .sold me some Jaiianese curcnlio- 
proof plnin tree.s for delivpr,v next April. Lots of 
mdgliiiors’ names were down, hut I heard afterwards 
that some R. N.-Y. readers had turned him down. For 
s(>v’eral years I have refused to talk to any agents, but 
he “hypnotized” me for a minute. I .shall take my 
medicine. I have been wondering whether agents could 
not have a R. N.-Y. tnidge and also the farmers. Why 
don't you get one uji, and we will refuse to deal with 
any other? reader. 
i FADER” is taking his medicine and there- 
Xv fore keeps Iiis name out of print, but what 
he says is timely right noAV. Mr. Whiting still re- 
maiii.s the star tree agent. We Avonld back him to 
sell an outfit of trees to a concrete fence jiost. How 
the man is able to do it year after year is a mys¬ 
tery. Men and women knoAvn to be of sound mind 
and of knoAvn thrift Avill believe his foolish state- 
imuits and actually .sign contracts to buy trees at 
extravagant prices, ^fost jieople Avhen they recover 
“take their medicine” as onr friend does, and try 
to forget it. Others come and a.sk ns to help them 
rejuidiate their contract! Honest now, after all we 
have said about Whiting, how can w’e be expected 
to Avork up much sympathy for R. N.-Y. readers 
Avho take his bait? 
. a 
W ITHOUT aii.v question, this country, and par- 
ticnlarl 3 - the Eastern part of it, is to see 
a great reA'ival of interest in gardening and thor¬ 
ough culture of smaller fields. The “high cost of 
living” is partly responsible for this. Thousands of 
families Avill get control of a piece of ground some- 
Avhere and invest in seeds, tools and fertilizers. 
'I'liey may not add much to the food supply, but 
they are going to try at least. Then we think there 
Avill be many moi-e farm gardens than ever before. 
Farmei’s are seeing more and more the folly of liv¬ 
ing in the countrj^ and not having a full and OA’^er- 
floAving supply of cris2> vegetables—right from the 
vine. A good garden is ahvays the most profitable 
spot on the farm—no farm is complete Avithout it. 
One of the best things about a garden is that It 
shoAvs the farmer the value of thorough culture. 
You cannot make the little seeds and plants grow 
unless they have good culture and care, and the gar¬ 
den aaTII shOAV any man the profit in giving fewer 
acres garden care eA'en if he must seed down moi*e 
of his fa I’m. 
♦ 
A.ST j^ear there was a demand for small lots of 
potash at ?.‘100 or more per ton for muriate. 
Many of our readers sold lots of 200 pounds or more 
at these figures. Our advice was to sell at $.300 if 
it could be obtained, but .some farmers concluded to 
take the chance for higher figures and so held their 
sipiplies. We fear they have noAV held too long. 
There is no active demand noAv for the small lots; 
in fact the fertilizer brokers do not seem to care 
to handle them. Potash from American sources 
seems to provide for manufacturing, aud there will 
not be much used in fertilizers until prices go much 
loAver. There is a general feeling that the war 
must end during this year, and that will mean 
beaA’ier imports of German potash than ever be¬ 
fore. We fear therefore that farmers who have 
held back small lots for a higher price have now 
held them too long. 
* 
O X page 42 the Hope Fann man told of the tax¬ 
ation of improvements on farm property and 
how this worked to the advantage of non-residents 
or oAA’nei's of unoccupied land. Now comes another 
.Ter-seyman with the folloAving: 
I was very much struck AA’ith your tax exhibit and 
j'ou might be interested how Ave overcame that diffi¬ 
culty 20 years ago in Plainfield, New Jersey. At that 
time our situation was exactly like yours, but we 
passed an ordinance that. “All lands of equal size on 
a street for such aud such distances, or bounded by 
such and such, etc., should be taxed on same basis 
irrespective of what buildings stood upon them, then 
IShe RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
the buildings were taxed separately on their oAvn mer¬ 
its.” Thus you see there was an immediate incentive 
for owners to improve their unoccupied ground in or¬ 
der to escape the penalty of equal taxes. e. t. b. 
It has seemed to ns a species of .social robbery 
for a man to let tracts of land lie Idle waiting for 
others to increa.se its value b.A' building around it 
nr l)y planting orchards or doing good farming so 
as to make the Avaste land more desirable. Those 
Avho improve the land and add to its value are 
forced to pay increased taxes and are really yien- 
alized for the crime of being thrifty or good citi¬ 
zens. q'bere is no justice about the rule or pi*actice 
which iiennit.s the OAA-ner of the idle land to paj’ 
a mere nominal tax while others are making bis 
property valuable! 
* 
W E baA'e told how some of onr readers are ex¬ 
ercising “the power of the press” by writing 
strong letters to the local impers. They jire doing 
it Avell. The Clinton Courier recently ijrinted a 
.strong letter from its correspondent at Deansboro, 
X. Y., in AA'bicb Ave read: 
It looks very much as though the Wicks Committee, 
that started out by doing good work, had surrendered 
to the big intei-ests. When will some of onr officials 
cease to play the game of peanut politics? Plenty of 
us here in the country do not much care whether an 
official is a Republican, Democrat. Bull Moose, or bull 
frog, if he is efficient. Tliere may be hayseed in our 
hair, but not all the officials and investigators betAveen 
Alpha and Omaha can pull the wool over the eyes 
of the whole herd of us at one and the same time. 
The last sentence is the one to remember. If 
the politicians do not believe it yet, let them go 
right on and finally receive the proof at the end 
of a club. 
Why “ Leaders” Do Not Lead 
I have spent some time going about New York .‘^tate 
among the farmers, and have noticed one curious thing. 
Talk to any farmer you meet, go into any gathering 
where actual farmers come together, and yon find a 
strong and outspoken demand for a continuation of 
the Foods and Markets Department. Avith a fair chance 
for the Commissioner to show what he can do. On 
the other hand the so-called “leader.s” are indilTerent 
or opposed. The farmers’ institute directors, the agri¬ 
cultural department employees, the educators, as a 
rule and such men as control the State Agidcnltural 
Society, oppose the Department openly or covertly, 
and want to see it killed. Can j’ou tell me why? 
J. s. K. 
E can. Not all these men oppose the De¬ 
partment, but It i.s true that most of them 
do so. There are, several reason.s. In nine cases 
out of 10 such men are what we call “leaden” 
leader’s. They have some political or State job imAV, 
or are after one. Their idea of farm leadershi}) 
is to hang onto their oaa’u job and do no fighting 
Avhich might iwssibly offend the poAverfnl politi¬ 
cians! in a fight they .sink out of sight like lead. 
Other leaders are “educated” the Avrong Avaj’, Their 
education lias glA’en them the big bead I’athor than 
a big heart They are too ladylike to fight Had 
they lived in old daj^s when the P.ritish marched 
out to l.exington they would not have fired a mn.s- 
ket, but AA’onld have handed the invaders hard 
eider aud doughnuts and said. Please go aicap!” 
We are convinced, hOAvever, that the chief reason 
is that these “leaders” do not want to bring about 
any real reform. The reason for it may be found in 
the following story: 
Years ago an English tenant farmer was greatly 
damaged by limiting parties. The fox, the bounds 
and the riders all smashed over his grain and po¬ 
tatoes. They neA’er caught the fox, but day after 
day they rode home SAvearing at the red rascal that 
eluded them, and promising to kill him so as to 
piYitect the poor farmer. And then, to get up 
strength for another run, the fox Avonld come at 
night and steal a chicken from the farmer's hen¬ 
roost. The farmer puzzled over it aud his loss le- 
coming great, decided to take matters into his oavii 
hands. lie loaded the blnndei-liuss, laid in Avait, 
caught the fox in his henhouse and bleAV the life 
out of him. 
Then he thought Iioav pleased the fox hunters 
AA’ould be—since they had worked so hard to pro¬ 
tect his farm. So he put on his best clothes, took 
the fox b,v the tail and carried him to the manor 
house AAdiere they were holding a big dinner aud 
cursing the fox as usual. The farmer Avalked in, 
very proud that he had served them .so well. Then 
occurred this dialogue Avith the lord of the manor. 
“Who are yon?” 
“I’m Farmer Richardson!” 
“What do you want?” 
“1 bring good news!” 
“Name it and be done!” 
“I’A'e killed the fox!” 
"What? You infernal scoundrel! What did yon 
do that for?” 
“Why— he’s a thief and you have told me time 
February 10, IO 17 . 
and iignin you were trying to kill him so as to pro- 
loot me!" 
“Rut. yon stupid blockhead, don't yon knoAv any¬ 
thing? Wc never iranfed to 1,-ill that fox! uv> 
irere just chasing him and telling ahoiit it! Don't 
lion know that when that fox is killed onr joh is 
gone, and ire must go to workP' 
There .a’ou have your answer. The politician and 
the HA’erage “leader"’ never Avanted to kill the fox. 
Thoj* AA’ant to talk about doing it, and get paid for 
a pleasant game of hunting. Let some man actually 
get at the heart of the trouble and kill or Avonnd 
the f(.x and be Avill lie just about as poimlar as 
honest Farmer Richardson Avas Avith the fox hunt¬ 
ers. The other farmers will stand by him, but they 
liave to AA'ork for a living, and do not quite see 
Act that many of these so-called “leaders’’ are not 
leading but sinqily roosting on them! Go into any 
farm organization Avhich is domimited by actual 
AA’orking farmers and see what they stand fori The 
jinliticdans knoAV Iioav hollow these empty gatherings 
of “leaders” are, but it is all they have back of 
them. 
* 
T he California Fruit Growers’ Exchange is no 
doubt the most complete bn.siness machine for 
Mdling and distributing a farm crop in this country, 
if not in the AA’orld. It handles each year some $so,- 
ttOO.OOO of fruit, or at least detennines the price 
at which this amount of fruit is sold. Here then 
Avp should expect to find jiroof that there is no such 
thing as a .3.5-cent dollar, for this fine organization 
ought to be able to eliminate Ava.stes in .selling and 
obtain the fullest jirice for the groAver. It does, 
iind j’pt here is the statement of a year’s record of 
sales—made by the manager, G. Harold Powell: 
AWicn the consumer buys a dollar’s worth of citrus 
fruits, this dollar splits up approximately into the 
following elements when revolved backwards to the 
lirodncer: The retailer’s gross margin. 27% to J.5% 
of the consumer’s dollar; the jobber’s gro.ss margin. 
8% to 8%% of the consumer’s dollar; the railroad's 
gross earnings, 20% to 2.3% of the consumer’s dol¬ 
lar ; the non-profit, cooperative distribution from j>ro- 
dneer to jobber, 1% to j^/^% of the consumer's dol¬ 
lar; X’ational advertising. 0.5% of the consumer's dol¬ 
lar. The crop brings to California from .35% to 40% 
of the consumer’s dollar, of Avhich the fruit on the 
tree gets 25% to 27% or more. 
Thus the fruit on the tree brings an average of 
20 cents of the consumer’s dollar, .^fter paying the 
cost of peiking and packing, the groAver. even Avitli 
the benefit of this splendid organization, receives 
an aA’erage of .371/^ cents of the dollar! Were it 
not for this organized system of handling and sell¬ 
ing, it is doubtful if the grower would receive 20 
cent.s of the final price! We have been ciiticized 
for saj’ing that there is any such thing as a .3.5- 
cent dollar, but no one Avill deny the force of tliese 
figures. Here is no gues.s, but the careful report 
of a great business organization. .Some one may 
.''■ay that this is not representative of other farm 
products, since this California fnilt must be hauled 
thousands of miles and pa.y heavy freight rates. 
Equally careful figuring for potatoes, apples and 
most other products Avill show an even worse mar¬ 
gin betAveen what the consumer pays and what the 
groAver receWes. The California growers are able 
to hold their 35-cent dollar because they are or¬ 
ganized and have some control of their fruit. The 
individual .shippers have no such control. When the 
goods leaA’e their hands all control of it is lost and 
they take Avhat comes to them unless in some Avay 
thoj’’ can make some sort of a contract ahead. 
P eople avIio live in the District of Columbia 
and around it are interested in several bills 
before Congress. One would “postalize’’ the tele¬ 
phone in the District and the nearby country’. 
I’nder such a system there should be a “ ’phone in 
eA’ery man's home,” the same as a nihil box or a 
mail delivery. This would be an experiment to see 
hoAV much the cheaij 'phone Avill bring people to¬ 
gether for business. Another thing proiJo.sed is a 
municipal slaughter-house for Washington. This 
Avonld be for the purpose of providing cheaper meat 
aud encouraging farmers to raise moi’e steers and 
beef animaks. Of course, these things will be bit¬ 
terly fought by private intere.sts, but they should 
lie tried out. Why should not the District of 
Columbia be regarded as a big human experiment 
station Avhere such social experiments may be tried? 
Brevities 
PRUXIXG time has come. 
To plant or not to plant the small potato seed is 
the hard jiroblem .iust now. 
M-A.N1KE hauled out now is done with and you AA-ill 
be glad of it when the Spring rush come.s. 
Eating roasted muskrats! In spite of the fact that 
many Southern people declare this dish to be a noted 
delicacy—Ave have not yet reached the point of try¬ 
ing it. 
