606 
B»c RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
^pril 20, 10J 6 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
Do you know whether this Lime- 
Fertile as advertised in the enclosed cir¬ 
cular is a good fertilizer to use or not? 
I have never seen it advertised in your 
paper and do not know of its being used 
anywhere around here before. P. C. A. 
New Jersey. 
This product was discussed on page 69, 
issue of January 19. Prof. E. Rose, 
State Chemist of Florida, placed a valua¬ 
tion of per ton on the product on 
the basis of the cost of standard fertil¬ 
izer ingredients in Florida. The price on 
a ton of “Nitro Fertile” f. o. b. Cleveland, 
O., at the time was $.330. ‘‘Enough said.” 
I bought .32 fruit trees from H. M. 
Whiting, for which I signed a contract 
to pay $.36, somewhat over one dollar 
apiece. I never bought any trees before, 
as I am a back-to-the-lander. I paid 
about four times too match for these 
trt'es. They are to be delivered in April 
of this year. Can Mr. Whiting compel 
me to accept them? We need the money 
for other supplies. Mr. Whiting is the 
smoothest talker I ever met. o. n. s. 
New York. 
This is the old, old story of Whiting’s 
victims. And it is usually the am informed 
who can least afford to lose the money 
who is taken advantage of in this way. 
O. H. S. vdll either have to pay for the 
stock at the price specified in the order, 
or prepare to defend an action in court. 
The yarns told by MTiiting about his 
trees usually furnish good grounds for a 
defence. This class of nursery concerns 
aisually depends upon threats to secure 
settlement; but the grower must be in 
position to protect himself should suit be 
brought. 
We received literature and price lists 
from ‘‘Queen Rubber Co.,” 2642 Broad- 
W'ay, New York. They guarantee their 
auto tires for 4,000 miles, with replace¬ 
ment at one-half of original cost in case 
of not giving full service. Is this con¬ 
cern reliable, and are their tires durable? 
We ask because their price is unreason¬ 
ably low and we suspect the tires are too 
cheap to be good. G. n. 
Missouri. 
We share the subscriber’s suspicion. 
The price list makes no claim as to the 
quality of the tires, but agrees to replace 
any tires that fail to give 4,000 miles’ 
service at oiie-half list price. The prices 
quoted leave no doubt that the tires are 
either “seconds,” made-over tires, or in 
some way inferior in quality. The only 
true economy in tire buying is to pur- 
oha.se standard makes of tires and avoid 
all bargain offers by “gyp” tire con¬ 
cerns. 
I have made a specialty of sending 
eggs by parcel post for several years with 
good success, but have shipped to James 
Dowdell, .51.3 40th St., Brooklyn. N. Y., 
and Mrs. Sicordi, 306 West 82d St., New 
York, and have been unable to get pay¬ 
ment. I have written these people .sev¬ 
eral times and mailed them statements. 
They were recommended by other cus¬ 
tomers, who still get eggs from me, and 
are very satisfactoi'y, 80 that I do not 
see why they do not pay. o. c. R. 
New York. 
Some people are willing to supply their 
table with fresh eggs at the farmer’s ex¬ 
pense. We trust other readers will not 
lose ‘by shipping to these parties. It is 
just as necessary to look up the standing 
of individuals as it is the dealers. 
For the sake of thousands of shippers, 
please, oh, please, keep up the fight in 
j'our Publisher’s Desk on the Adams Ex¬ 
press Co. for not paying claims. A frieiid 
of mine shipped a Christmas package in 
December, 1916, and only after all the 
annoyance and delay which this company 
knows so w'ell how to cause, secured set¬ 
tlement after about nine months. Person¬ 
ally, I am unable to obtain even an ac- 
knowledgnient that a claim of mine has 
been received even after a year or more. 
A prominent shipper wrote me that it 
seemed to be the policy of this company 
never to pay a claim if they could avoid 
it by delay and tiring one out. If the.v 
think this good business, and if the.v 
think the public is going to befriend them 
when the States and Government finally 
get after them, they are mightily mis¬ 
taken. My advice to everyone is to pat¬ 
ronize the parcel post whenever possible 
and to work for its extension in every 
possible way. K. Av. M. 
Connecticut. 
The average time for investigation and 
settlement of a claim by Adams Express 
Company is eight to nine months. Still 
they solicit the custom of shippers, and 
shippers must use their service, for at 
many points there is no other express 
company. Parcel post will be developed 
so more can use it with less annoyance 
than the.v now suffer. We are told that 
to pa.v all the claims against them would 
put Adams Express Company out of busi¬ 
ness. If they would pay the claims 
promptly we venture to say they would 
get enough increased business to start 
them off again. We have some 700 claims 
filed and are waiting vouchers. 
In your Publisher’s Desk I note a corn- 
plaint from Maryland against the Verti¬ 
cal Feed Sewing Machine Co. of Dayton. 
Ohio. About five months before, I had 
received a letter from this same C. G. 
Martin Co., Springfield, Mo., notifying 
me that they had taken over my notes 
given under agreement with this same 
Vertical P’eed Sewing Machine Co. I’m 
really sorry about this. He was an aw¬ 
fully nice fellow—their agent—and we 
liked him fine; he was so obliging, and 
he loved to talk on religion; and he made 
pretty things for the kiddies. And the 
sample he had was such a nice machine, 
and would do so many little tricks no 
other machine I ever saw demonstrated 
would think of doing—in the kind of 
cloth he used—and after it came it was 
60 nice and solid to look at, and so cap¬ 
able looking—outside, and I have three 
girls—all pretty ones—growing up. But 
it won’t—absolutely won’t—sew a decent 
seam of stitches, not even a short one. 
And then I thought—“Oh. but I have 
a guarantee in black and white all signed 
up,” and I got it out. It said “ten years” 
for the attachments and “unlimited” for 
the machine. Who the dickens am I 
doing business with, anyhow? The ma¬ 
chine is stamped “Manufactured and 
guaranteed by the Duaus Sewing Machine 
Company of Dayton, Ohio.” The note I 
signed was made to the “Durham Sew¬ 
ing Machine Co.” The printed guarantee 
is signed by the “Vertical Feed Sewing 
Machine Co.,” and noAV I am asked to 
pay the money to this Martin Co., and 
the agent said his name was F. R. Wear. 
Well, I wonder if I have just done gone, 
went, and did it. I did get written into 
my note a clause specifying that the ma¬ 
chine had to give satisfaction. I wonder 
if that Avill help? I am going up to talk 
to the banker tomorrow and then to the 
newspaper offices. And then Ave will look 
up.' our felloAV suckers and pool our in¬ 
terests and see what a jury Avill decide 
about the matter. G. F. ii. 
California. 
The above is such a clear statement of 
experience that no comment is required. 
A couple of men came along here last 
Spring and pretended to be agents for the 
“Ever Ready” Self-heating Karbo Flat¬ 
iron, and my wife ordered one and paid 
$2 down and was to pay $1.75 on delivery. 
She has not heard anything from the men 
or the iron either. Do you know of any 
such company as Pittsburgh Sad Iron 
V’torks, Pittsburgh, Pa.? If you do, please 
see what you can do about it, or was 
that a bogus game to get money? They 
put up here at the hotel and did quite a 
business, but have not heard whether any¬ 
one got iron.s or not. J. E. II. 
New York. 
Yes, we know the firm above referred 
to. We wrote the concern in behalf of 
the subscriber, and the reply disputes that 
the receipt for $2 had been 'given, and that 
if J. E. H. will forAvard postal money 
order for $2.75 the iron will be shipped. 
This we shall not advise, because other 
subscribers who have reported on the 
irons of this company advise that they 
are worth just what they AA’ill bring as 
scrap iron. We are not condemning all 
self-heating irons, but farm women Avill 
do well to beware of the agents of this 
house. 
Being an interested reader of “Pub¬ 
lisher’s Desk,” I would like a little in¬ 
formation. Do you knoAV anything about 
the American Commerce Association, 
American Commerce Building. Chicago, 
and their ability to teach traffic manage¬ 
ment by mail? Some time ago I noticed 
a complaint in Publisher’s Desk about 
some real estate firm in Oklahoma. Be¬ 
fore I was a subscriber to The R. N.-Y. 
I was duped for $50 by the McAlester 
Real Estate Exchange, McAlester, Okla.; 
their representative made glaring misrep¬ 
resentations to me. I complained to the 
Company, but got no satisfaction, so I 
stated the facts to the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C., who 
turned it over to the Post Office Depart¬ 
ment, and, after a long time, my $50 was 
returned. ii. ii. u. 
Pennsylvania. 
We do not believe it is practical or pos¬ 
sible for anyone to become a “traffic man¬ 
ager” by the correspondence course route. 
The arrest of the McAlester real estate 
sharps was reported in last week’s issue. 
Anyone having grounds for complaint 
against the concern should place their evi¬ 
dence in the hands of the U. S. District 
Attorney, Edward K. Bruce, Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 
Clean water is 
vital to good health 
Open wells are dangerous. Dirt and refuse cause 
pollution. Every farm should protect its drinking Avater 
and keep it pure and clean. 
Build a concrete well platform 
It costs little and can be built quickly and easily. 
Concrete VA^on’t rot or wear aAvay. It keeps out surface 
drainage, dirt and refuse. A platform six feet square and 
six inches thick requires only four bags of Atlas Portland 
Cement (ask your dealer the cost), eight cubic feet of 
sand and sixteen cubic feet of gravel or crushed stone. 
Use Atlas Portland Cement 
The high, uniform quality of Atlas makes it best to use. The Atlas 
Farm Book gives full instructions. Also tells how to build many other 
permanent constructions. Send the coupon below. 
The Atlas Portland Cement Company 
Member of tJu Portla?td Ceme^ii Association 
New York Chicago Philadelphia Boston St. Louis Minneapolis Des Moines Dayton Savannalt 
Make this a free country— 
BUY LIBERTY BONDS 
Broad Street, New York, or Corn Exchange Bank Building, Chicago, 
The Atlas Portland Cement Co., 30 
Send free Atlas Farna Book. I expect to build a. 
Name and Address 
$ CONCRETE FOR PERMANENCE 
ooaiUNO 
aHei^repn e asuref^ 
WiBnaoj d^-Mchm 
OGHTfSIK 
12c B**" n. 99^ pure copperi 
Directtoyou,notnid<Uemati j 
If goods when received are not sativfacto! y j 
return to ns, we will pajjroight both ways. ' 
Full instmetions with each order. Write us. 
InternatioBBl Lightning Rod Co. 
DBpt.K SOUTH BEND. IND. 
WITTE 
Kero-Oil Engines 
Twice the Power et Half the Cost 
Sizes 2 to 22 H-P.—Select Your Own 
Terms — Direct-from-Factory prices. Write 
your own order—Save $15 to $200« Prompt 
Shipment. Big now cata!oir,*‘How to Judffo 
EnMnes''-FREE—by return mail. Postpaid* 
I Writ;'! WITTE ENGIN E WORKS 
I— . _il690f>akland Ave., Kansas City. Mo. 
iSSOCmpiro PHUbursh. Pa. 
HARDWOOD 
FLOORING 
TO LAY OVER OLD FLOORS 
Thill—Ja"*2" face—hardwood flooring in Birch, 
Ma|)le, Oak or Quartered Oak, can be laid ritrht 
over old floors or in new buildings. Modernizes 
old rooms or whole houses at low cost. 
OUR THIN HARDWOOD 
FLOORING IS BEAUTIFUL 
Clean—sanitary—doesn't catch dirt Ilk® carpets— 
does away with back-breakiiigsweepiiik. Bays even 
—smooth and strong without disturbing thresh¬ 
olds. Keasonable in cost. Sample on request with 
Price List of Floor Varnishes, Floor Waxes, etc. 
WEBBER LUMBER ft SUPPLY COMPANY 
84 Thompson Sire.t Fitchburg, Mass. 
BUY DIRECT FROM GALLOWAATS FACTORIES! 
Learn how Galloway can save you big money on your Separator, Engln«, Spreader, Tractor, 
or other farm implement. You have heard of Galloway. You know of others who hav 
traded with him and got great values. Resolve yourself—this year—to buy from Galloway 
and make money by saving money. When you buy from Galloway you buy direct from the 
factory. Galloway’s business plan is the big economical way of doing business. All waste, all 
unnecessary expense, is saved when you buy direct from Galloway’s factories. The saving oa 
your year’s supply will amount to hundreds of dollars. 300.000 customers—some near you. 
A... ui.M. T.d.ul Send at once and get Gallow^s 1918 Free Book. 
Free BOOK I Act Now I WntO TOuSy I Let it ^ your buying guide. . It will post you on the 
highest grade implements at the very lowest prices. We ship from St. Paul, Chicago, Waterloo^ 
Ckmncil Bluflb, Spokane, Kansas City, to save you freight. How, chile you think of It, SEND FOR THE BOOK. 
WILLIAM GALLOWAY COMPANY, Box 277, WATERLOO, IOWA 
