954 
at this -writing it is much over the double cf«^t of 
luoduction. A i)romising new crop is half made, 
and to j)rotect it, and the balance from last year, 
there may be a drop, but the price of cotton will be 
safe for the growers. 
WOOL PKICE-FIXING.—Ohio ha» more men 
growing wool than any other State, and how many 
were present when the price Avas fixed? What good 
Avould liave come from a multitude of them, more 
than the one there by accident? Every .sheep man 
always dei)ended on liim.self. which means that he 
dejiended on nothing. lie had been lulled into se- 
ciirity liy the oft-repeated statement that “the War 
L‘(>ai-d was not going to .set a price on wool.’’ and 
he has swallowed everything handed him. except 
“the wool growers have offered their wool at the 
lu'ice .Inly .'10.” You now know something about 
tlie price paid, but not a pound was grown in the 
Imst at less than a dollar, mdess on “Mary’s lamb.” 
or a few sheep that foraged among other animals, 
and if you doubt it. count the intei-est on their cost, 
if you bought them, or Avhat you might have sold 
them for, the land that pastured them, buildings 
that held them, and add that interest to the feed 
,AOU jntohed and shoveled into them, and put tlie 
leal Avorth of labor. in.surance and depreciation of 
] roperty to it. The reason for low iirice now. and 
uhvays has been, we did not know, and the Wat 
lioard did not. and there was no one to tell them, 
the whole trouble, always, the re.sult of sheeii men 
standing independently. You will watch a long time 
until you .see such fine binsiness with cotton. 
THE PGWER OF UNION.—Herewith is an ex- 
am])le easily understood. The housewives of the 
Fast are the most useful, best and dearest folks in 
the world, but not half of them can make an ajiple 
I)ie, tart, dumpling or butter, luxuries and necessi¬ 
ties, but yon can see dishes of oranges on their side¬ 
boards the yc‘ar around. The same i)ro])ortion of 
men only know an apjde becau.se it is notbing else, 
and the cliildren are famishing for the gcmd fruit. 
There is a union of r)..S00 citrus growers in (’alifornia 
A\ho have taken the apples out of the mouths of 
1,000 times their number in the East. Notice the 
('.isplays of fruit stores, and the owners getting rich, 
not on apples. A bushel of most any of our varie¬ 
ties is worth more than the whole stock. In Ohio 
we liave ten times the number of sheep owin-rs that 
are in that citrus union, and what could we do if 
(/ur intelligence, and only individual dollars were 
ujiited? Then what with 100.000 others? We will 
(1 use the Avord nHU bec'ause I have faith) ]»ut 
flocks on every hillside and mountain jiasture. and 
scatter some all over the level land, and we Avill 
(iothe all our people Avith pure raiment, make “the 
wool shortage” forgotten, and send bii)ed and (]uad- 
i'U])ed enemies to cover. I have faith that thoughts 
ontertiiined this year Avill call out our latent ])oAver. 
UNK)N AND ITtK’ES.—Another example of how 
union raises jirices. Local avooI buyers told us the 
Government had set the price and they c(»uld give 
(F) cents cash. Discouraged gi-owers were letting it 
go Avhen .1. F. Walker, seci'ctary of a little bunch 
who called themselves the Ohio .‘^lieeji and Wool 
(.'roAvei-s‘ Association had .some letters in the fai-m 
I'ces.s. Thei-e Avas a neAV revelation, and wool Avas 
^'.o1d for 70 cents. Tens of thousands of dollars liaA’e 
I'een saved by this puny little union, Avitli about 
.'f200 in the treasury, and that many member.s. At 
jnesent it is craAvling out of its .SAvaddling clothes 
and stretching itself. It Avill be a big, strong duffer 
later on ami have enough pals to lift a load. 
UNION AND PATRIOTL«?M.—About all the satis¬ 
faction handed us for the Ioav i)rice is that Ave are 
hel])ing the Government like patriots. Depression 
i.s not essential to patriotis-m Avhen all piled on one 
class. The sods of these old pastures Avill grow 
wheat to keep the bag handlers busy at thrashing 
and Ave could .sell the sheej) and feel patriotic send¬ 
ing loads of grain to elevators at ,$2.1.5. There are 
no good results from simulating hypocritical jiatriot- 
i.'un. and Ave AAill state the kind of patriots Ave are. 
America is disgraced by a shortage of Avool, .so Ave 
Avill hold the .sheep and adopt the means, formerly 
neglected, to insure their lives, and their incre:ise. 
There has been the holloAV mockery of a propaganda 
for the increae of avooI, here Avhere there is a sur¬ 
plus of Avheat. corn, beef, pork and cotton, a shoit- 
age Avith empires of suitable land for shee:: a good 
stiirt AVith all the l)reeds, and an intelli.gence to groAV 
a surplus of avooI like other productions. The 
primai-y element for a successful ]u-opagandi) is 
jirofit. the only essential needed uoav, so Avhile Avork- 
ing and Availing for that Ave Avill patriotically hang 
to tlie sheep. Union is the siiecific . This is no time 
to “let Geoi'ge do it.” 'That Ims been tried long 
enough. 
WISDOM OF UNION NOW.—The sheep and avooI 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
of the old Avorld are cleaned out. The Allies are 
depending almost entirely on foreigners, Avhile the 
central miscreants Avear filters from grass, AA’eeds 
and Avood. They must all have avooI. Avhen they can 
get it, and they must depend on others for animals 
to groAV it on. They Avill Avant .some of all our breeds 
and Ave must have as many as Ave possibly can for 
them. The future is very promising, if Ave unite 
and get jn-ices Avorthy of the enterprise It is 
the brightest outlook the sheep industry eA-er had. 
if AA-e ]»repare for it. It is good patriotism, business 
and common sense to fasten on every eAve and treat 
her like a lady. We have lost mone.v this year, but 
'here are other.s. av. av. key.nouds. 
A Homemade Spraygun 
I N The R. N.-Y’. not long since several fruit 
groAvei’s gave tlieir imi)re.ssions of the “spray- 
gun” as an improvement on the old styles of nozzles 
for spra.Aing fruit trees. May I be alloAA-ed space 
for mine? These nozzles .are in (piite general xise 
in Western Michigan and are giving good satisfac¬ 
tion. I have but a single objection to them, and that 
i.' tlie price. Price i-egulation of food liroducts has 
been necessai-y. aiid f.armers are standing it Avith- 
out complaint, but they in return are entitled to 
some degree of ]»rotection against extortionate 
1 rices for Avhat tliey have to buy. and there should 
be some degree of i-elation.ship betAveen the cost of 
manufacture and the selling price. This jtrinciple 
is, indeed, i-ecognized by the government, but the 
/•latter of jirice regnl.-ition in all of its bearings is 
a large job. and neces.sarily retpiires consi<lerable 
time for c</mplete adju.stment. We may hope that 
Apple (loUh n IhUciouH. a Good l<]iipper. 
See page VoG 
some of these luattei-s may receive pi-oper attention 
in due time. Meantime the writer is disposed to put 
up Avith considerable inconvenience rather than to 
stand for such extortion. 
But in the present instance it is unneces.sary. A 
chea]) and re.-idily available article is at hand Avhich 
is “ju.st as good." 'J'his is the Avay I get around 
this hold-up: A nozzle of a familiar type Avas 
readily transformed into a long-distance attach- 
nient. This is a conical-sh.aped nozzle Avith tAvo 
disks, an outer and innei- one. each about an inch 
in diameter and jilaced perhaps a tAvelfth of an inch 
ai»art. The inner disk h:i« tAvo dia.gonal oiienings 
near the edge and o])posite each other, and the outer 
disk has a single small ojiening in the center. With 
a car]»enter's divider a circle Avas described on the 
inner di.sk perhajis three-eighths of an inch in 
diameter. Four holes aa'civ drilled in this circle 
c'luidislant apart and about the size of an eight- 
l-enny nail. With the point of a three-cornered file 
the hole in the outer disk Avas enlarged to about 
the .same size, so as to allOAv as much spray Ihiuid 
to pa.ss as the pump Avould force through and main¬ 
tain a pressure of 22.5 jiounds. We happened to 
have a piece of galvanized gasi/ipe about three feet 
long, and this nozzle Avas j/ut onto this Avith a good 
shut-off on the other end and attached to the hose. 
With this outfit Ave are able to force a finC .spiay 
about like smoke through the largest trees, and 
avoid the u.se of long, cumbersome spray rods or 
high toAvers. We haA’e used this nozzle all of this 
season, and one man has done the Avork Avith one 
rig. Heretofore Ave haA’e felt it necessjiry to have 
tAvo men Avith a rig Avhen si)raying large apple trees, 
one man on the tank and the other on the ground. 
AA’ith a long hose to reach thi-ough the cemter of the 
trees, but Avith this attachment a complete job has 
been done AA’ith the single nozzle. This means a 
good deal Avith the present help .shortage. There is 
no economy in running the .spray through tAvo or 
ihree or more leads of hose Avheu exjual Avork in 
every respect can be done Avith one man. 
-Aimoi.st in, 191 S 
I notice that some of the Avi-iters are a little appie- 
hensive that Avith such nozzles the .spray Avill not 
be depo.sited in the calyx of the little apple and the 
codling moth Avorm Avill escape. Some imagine that 
an angle nozzle is necessai-y for this. Personally Ave 
haA’e neA’er used the angle nozzles, as it is dillicult to 
see liOAv in large trees they are particularly mon* 
efficient for the imriiose than the straight nozzles. 
The control of the AA’orms. too. AA’ith the straight 
nozzle has Ixeen <iuite sati.sfactory. e. ii. 
Michigan. 
Apples in the Hudson Valley 
Last Spring aa’g discussed the relative A’alue of manure 
and fertilizer to be used on an apple orchard in the 
Hudson Galley. Noaa’ comes a report of results: 
N the first place, it took over a month for the 
Manure Co. to obtain a car to ship the manure, 
which surprised me someAvhat, as I had an idea tluit 
the only difficulty in shipping aa’us to get goods into 
NeAV York from the West, and that Avestbound 
freight could be shi]>ped promptly. Then, after it 
was shipped, it took just tAvo Aveeeks to come 100 
miles on the West Shore R. R.. and during the tii]) 
it Avas exposeil to .several rainstorms. The manure 
was ordered in .Tanuary, Avith the idea of getting it 
spread in the orchard on top of the snoAV, and also 
to take adA’antage of hauling it on sleiglus. .\s it 
was, it came after tlie snoAv Avas gone, and Avhile 
the ground AA’as .so soft that only small loads could 
l»e hauled, and some parts of the orchard could not 
he re.’iched Avith :iny sized load. HoAvever. it Avas 
all finally distributed, at a cost of about .$50. I am 
glad to sa.A’ that the orchard is shoAA’ing the goo<l 
effects of the aiiplication in the foliage, but the big 
ci’op is )|q(- j,) sight. The BaldAA’in.s. in their 
1-Rh yea I’, have failed to blo.ssom, although a num¬ 
ber of them haA’e a spread of txA’cnty feet, and in 
some cases more. I Avas unideasantly surprised at 
the lai’ge jimount of Winter injury shoAvn by the 
BahlAvins. a number of them being killed outright. 
AA’hile nearl.v half of the trees sIioaa’ areas of dead 
bark on the upper sides of the main branches, and 
in the crotches. On the other hand, the Rome 
Beauty trees. Avhich haA’e been reputed very .sensitive 
to cold, have come through the past abnormally cold 
M inter Avith .scarcely a sign of injury, and out of 
■100 trees not one has been killed. The Rome and 
Wagoner are the only varieties bearing to any ex¬ 
tent. but Ave ex]»ect to have more apples than ;iny 
previous year, probably about 100 barrels. Avhich. of 
cour.se. is not much of :i crop from I.OOO trees, llav- 
been unable to buy barrels yet. and have been told 
tliat the price Avill jirobably be around one d(dlai- 
eacb, Avhich secmis too much unless the apples bring ji 
A’ei-.v good ])ric(>. I hiive ordered some busliel bas¬ 
kets, but do not knoAv ho\A’ suitable they may 1 c 
for AVinter apples. One commission man said tiny 
Avere all right if the a])ples Avere not for ex])oii. 
The reports from our section of the Hudson V.-ilh-- 
indicate an exti’tonely small crop, generally attiih- 
uted to the hard AVintei’. My Rome Beauty ti'ccs 
liad a A’ei'y Jihundant set of blossoms, but a A-m-;- 
moderate set of fi’uit. HoAvever, Avhat did set is 
holding on Avell. Even the .sour cherry trees h; d 
very little fruit, and Avhat they did have the bii-d- 
ate before it Avas ripe, and .sour cherries Avere selling 
at 20 cents a <piart. too. 
I enclose a clii/ping from the editorial columns of 
the New York World, .saying that potatoes are going 
begging for a buyer at 5 cents a bushel Avithin 20)) 
miles of NeAV Y"ork. Gan such a condition be po.s- 
.'•ible? If .so. Avhat can be the cau.se? In our sec¬ 
tion they are sellin.g at $1 a peck at the store. 
Uhster Go.. N. Y’. Ralph a. vor.xo. 
R. N.-Y".—As Mr. Young is a back-to-the-lander. 
his .statements about the apple orchard Avill into-est 
the iteople avIio seem to think they can go to the 
country, stick some trees into the ground and then 
Avait for the yelloAvbacks to sprout on the li’ees. 
Ever.A’ Aveek brings upav reports concerning the loss 
of BaldAvin trees diii-ing the pa.st awfnl Winler. 
The situation is vei’.v bad and may mean the substi¬ 
tution of other A’ai’ieties for the old stand-by Bald¬ 
win. It Avill seem like the fatal illne.ss of an old 
friend to many of us. The barrel .situation is get¬ 
ting Avorse. The trouble Avith basket or hamper ship¬ 
ments is that the tops and slats cut into the fimit 
Avhen the.v are firmly packed in. The hampo’s do 
well for short shipments, but for long carriage too 
much of the fruit is injured. The statement in the 
World is that thousands of potatoes are reputed to 
be .selling at 5 cents a bushel Avithin 200 miles of 
NeAV Y’ork. We do not believe it. Any such potatoes 
would be (juickly bought up for stock feeding. 
A RE.ADiCR asks if the government Avill compel all 
potato groAvers to buy a sorter. No. All the govern¬ 
ment asks is that potatoes be graded by some one so as 
to UA'oid handling small stock and trash. 
