930 
^/>e RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 17, 1918 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
lu response to many inquiries regard¬ 
ing correspondence coui’ses to enable stu¬ 
dents to pass civil service examinations, 
we quote the following from a bulletin 
issued by the U. S. Civil Service Com¬ 
mission, Washington, D. C.: 
The commission has no eoniKH^tion with 
any civil service school or institute doing 
business by correspondence or otherwise, 
and has no information to furnish in re¬ 
gard to such schools. Representatives of 
schools are not permittwl to inspect the 
examination papers of competitors. Au¬ 
thentic information in regard to exam¬ 
inations may be obtained only from the 
commission, and without cost. 
I am enclosing you two protested checks 
of the Wm. Thomas Co., commission mer¬ 
chants, 314 Washington St., New York 
('ity. Kindly see if you can collect on 
these checks for me. o. K. w. 
Delaware. 
Wm. Thomas & Co. have gone into 
bankruptcy, but, since the company was 
a licensed commission merchant house, 
we think the face of the protested cheeks 
can be collected from the bond which the 
company had filed with the Department 
of Agriculture, as provided for in the 
commission merchants’ law. The com¬ 
mission merchants’ law affords some 
measure of protection to shippers. A 
great many houses that previously ad¬ 
vertised themselves as commission mer¬ 
chants have now adopte<l the title of 
dealers, receivers, distributors, etc., of 
farm produce. The object of these houses 
in no longer accepting goods on a com¬ 
mission basis is evidently to avoid put¬ 
ting up a bond with the Agricultural De¬ 
partment for the protection of shippers. 
This is why we advise our sub.scribers 
against shipping to any of these so-called 
dealers or distributors regardless of any 
other consideration. 
I wish to call your attention to a Mi'. 
Jewett, who claims to represent the .T. R. 
Cornell Co., brokers in real estate. Great 
liarriugton. Mass. Mr. Jewett tells one 
of their extraordinary ability to .sell 
farms, and then tells the farmer that a 
certain part of the commission must be 
paid down—usually about $80. I h.ave 
no intention of dealing with Mr. .Tewett 
or his company, but think it well to warn 
our fellow farmers against paying such 
large sums for a little advertising. 
New Yoi'k. J. M. 
D. B. Cornell Co. has evidently em¬ 
ployed a successor to J. J. Looker, who 
formerly fleeced New Y'ork State farm 
owners out of an advance fee of $20. The 
ante has now been raised to $80 in ac¬ 
cordance with the spirit of the times. 
Some time ago we asked for reports of 
any farm or farms that had been sold by 
D. B. Cornell Co. Up to this time no 
one has come forward with any knowl¬ 
edge of any sale having been made by the 
company. If Cornell and his agents can 
continue by deceit and lies to induce 
farmers into giving him an advance fee 
he doesn’t need to sell any proi)erty and 
still makes an easy living. Some one 
should take the trouble to have the agents 
arrested on the charge of attempting to 
perpetrate a swindle. 
The enclosed letter of IT. E. Phillips 
&• Co., investment brokers. Buffalo, N. Y., 
came today Although I am a farmer 
and ilv: but 30 miles from Buffalo, I 
have yet to learn of any such “Liberty 
Land and Grain Co.” through any agri¬ 
cultural source or any other source for 
that matter. At least I have read The 
R. N.-Y. too many yeai's to cough up a 
dollar a share for an enterprise of this 
character. j. p, K, 
New York. 
This farmer recognizes the “earmarks” 
on this get-rich-quick literature. Phillips 
& Co. allege that the above named com¬ 
pany was formed for the purpose of put¬ 
ting in a large acreage to wheat this Pall 
and that the officers of the comi)auy are 
all hard-working agrivnlturists and 
business men. An “agriculturist” is some¬ 
times defined as a man who farms the 
farmer. Under this definition Phillips & 
Co. would qualify as “agriculturists.” 
There are entirely too many of these 
agriculturists for the country’s good and 
not enough farmers. Start the fire with 
this class of “sucker bait” and it will 
serve some useful purpose. 
On Peb. 8, 1918, I had a ear of 3*50 
sacks of onions consigned to my name, 
my intentions being at the time to go with 
them to Scranton, Pa., to dispose of them. 
Tim stock was No. 1. had not been touched 
by frost, and very sound and nice, I had 
been doing business with W. J. Roberts 
of Scranton, Penna., with my onions pre¬ 
vious seasons, so decided to call him up 
on the ’phone. I did and he agreed to 
handle tho.se onions on commission, so had 
tlie railroad company deliver the car to 
him. In our conversation over the ’phone 
Mr. Roberts claimed that he could get a 
very good price for those onions by not 
hurrying to sell them. His agent was at 
my farm last Pall and offered me $2.8.5 
per sack for them, so you can see that the 
stock was good. I have written several 
letters to him and cannot get any answer 
or return from him, so let me know what 
you can do for me. G. E. 8. 
New York. 
We received no response from Roberts 
& Co., but are glad to report that six 
months after shipment was made the sub¬ 
scriber received his check for $409.57 for 
the onions. Whether there was intention 
to defraud we cannot say, but it is poor 
business policy to ignore a shipper’s in¬ 
quiries when holding his goods. Such 
methods throw discredit on all legitimate 
houses. 
I enclose herewith a description blank 
of the “Batson Farm Agency” of 489 
Fifth Avenue, New York City. Will you 
advise me if you know anything at all 
about them? I do not mean with regard 
to their ability to sell, but with regard to 
their integrity, reliability, etc., and have 
you heard any complaint as to their fail¬ 
ing to live up to their contract? 8. ii. 
New Jersey. 
The blank for the description of the 
property contains the following clause: 
“Enclosed find $15 to pay for i)lacing a 
description of my i)roperty with your 200 
agents.” This is essentially the Ostrander 
plan of securing advance fees. Ostrander 
as far as we have been able to learn made 
no effort to sell the property after re¬ 
ceiving the fee. Batson Fann Agency may 
honestly endeavor to give you value re¬ 
ceived for the money; but at best if a 
sale does not result the $15 is gone. The 
principle of advance fees is wrong and 
we advise farm owners against paying 
any amount on any pretext until the sale 
is consummated. 
Solomon Kirp, dairy products, of No. 
1548 Park Avenue, is defendant in an in¬ 
voluntary proceeding brought by the Har¬ 
lem Dairy. The claims total a little over 
,$.500. William Michael Byrne is the re¬ 
ceiver. 
We warned shippers against sending 
produce to this party several months ago. 
We therefore trust that the name of no 
R. N.-Y. reader will be found among the 
creditors. 
Last November we received a special 
sale c.atalogue from the Riley-Sehubert- 
Grossman Go. of Chicago, Ill., advertis¬ 
ing a kitchen cabinet for $14.05. I sent 
the firm a postoffice money order for the 
cabinet and received a letter acknowledg¬ 
ing the remittance and promise to make 
prompt shipment. Later on was advised 
that they were unable to make shipment 
on account of railroad embargoes and 
suggested shipi)ing by express. I wrote 
them several weeks ago to send the cabi¬ 
net by express, but have been unable to 
hear from the firm in the meantime. 
J. t. P. 
Pennsylvania. 
Our letters in behalf of the subscriber 
have been ignored by the company. In 
the meantime we learn from Chicago that 
the president. Samuel M. Grossman, and 
another member of the firm, have been 
arrested on a charge of using the mails 
to defraud. The Federal authorities 
charge that $2,7.50.000 of the company’.s 
assets h.ave mysteriously disappeared. 
Judge Landis fixed the baU of the two 
individuals at $15,000 eaob. Whatever 
the final result of the action brought bv 
the Federal axithorities may be, the situ¬ 
ation suggests the advisability of with¬ 
holding orders and remittances to this 
house until the matter is cleared up. 
Later: Riley-Schubert-Grossman Co. have 
been adjudged bankrupt and Central Trust 
Co, of Illinois, 111 W. Monroe St., Chi¬ 
cago, has been appointed Receiver in 
Bankruptcy. All claims should be veri¬ 
fied before a notary and sent to the Re¬ 
ceiver. 
Fall Chore* on the Poultry Plant 
This is the time of the year when the 
poultryman is starting his birds off on 
their Winter’s work. One of the first 
things he should do in starting the birds 
off right is to house them in a good house 
which is clean and vermin free. In the 
early Pall, or. perhaps in the late Sum¬ 
mer. the house should receive a tliorough 
cleaning, all fixtures which are movable 
being moved out.side and scrubbed thor¬ 
oughly. After the inside has been cleaned 
the house and fixtures should be sprayed 
with some good disinfectant and clean 
litter put on the floor. 
ll.aving made the laying house ready, 
the next thing is to decide what birds 
are going into it, or, in other words, to 
cull out the flock. Due to the high grain 
prices and scarcity of certain feeds, it 
will be the policy of the poultry-raiser to 
keep over the smallest number of birds 
possible, just those that will lay and be 
profitable. If trap-nest records of the 
past season’s performance are .at hand, 
so much the better. If not, the genei'al 
condition of the flock, along with comb 
color, shank color, space between lay- 
bones, flexibility of laybones, and breadth 
of body will have to decide which ones 
are to be kept. By all means, do not 
keep any sickly or unproductive birds. 
The pullets just coming off the I’ange 
should be culled also, keeping only the 
vigorous, large-bodied ones. In pullets, 
a bright, i)rominent eye, bright comb and 
wattles, and a large, broad body are de¬ 
sired ; no long-necked, long-legged, small¬ 
bodied birds should be kept. All culled 
birds should be disposed of as soon as 
possible; the old fowls, of course, may 
be sold at once, while some, if not all 
the cull pullets, may have to be kept 
a while and fattened. 
After the layers have been put in their 
Winter quarters, m.ake sure they are 
started off right. Do this by feeding 
properly; a good system such as that 
recommended to meet the pre.sent war 
situation by the Eastern colleges of the 
Ignited States may be used. A scrjitch 
ration consisting of five parts of cracked 
corn, one of feed wheat, two of heavy 
oats, and two of barley is fed morning 
and night in the litter to induce the birds 
to scratch and thereby get exercise. This 
is supplemented by a dry mash fed in 
hoppers and kept befoi'e the birds at all 
times, consisting of equal parts of wheat 
bran, wheat middlings, cornmeal or corn 
feed meal or hominy, ground or crushed 
oats, gluten feed, and meat scrap. Along 
with this, green food is to be supplied 
either in the form of mangel beets, 
sprouted oats (if obtainable), or table 
refuse. Mangel beets or sprouted oats 
may be unobtainable on account of high 
prices or other reasons ; if so, table refuse 
offers a good source for succulent feed. 
Just as a Fall reminder, let me ask if 
you have prepared for any green food for 
your chicks or old birds for the Spring? 
This is an important question, and should 
receive immediate care. Some sort of 
crop should be sown in the yards sur¬ 
rounding the brooder houses for the young 
chicks in the Spring, and in the runs for 
the older birds. The latter cannot be 
done so conveniently \inle.ss double yard¬ 
ing is practiced. A very good crop to 
sow, one that is hardy and gives a good 
growth by Spring, is rye. This can be 
sown in the Fall not later than the early 
part of October, and will give a good 
growth by Spring. 
In the late Fall is a good time to mate 
up breeders so that they will have a 
chance to become accustomed to their 
quarters and lay fertile eggs for the late 
’\Yinter and early Spring hatches. In 
mating breeders, it is very essential that 
birds be healthy and vigorous; don’t, un¬ 
der any circumstances, use birds as 
breeders which have been sick and have 
been doctored up. If possible, use birds 
whose pedigrees are known—particularly 
males whose mothers have been high- 
producing birds, as this will serve to 
build up a high-producing flock. External 
characteristics as well as trap-nest rec¬ 
ords are essential in the selection of 
breeders. The main things to look for are 
health, vigor, good carriage, ly-ight eye, 
and freedom from disease. If these things 
arc considered in selecting breeders, there 
ought to be no trouble in maintaining 
the health, vigor and high production of 
a flock. 
An important thing to be decided in 
the Fall is how and where the eggs are to 
be disposed of during the Winter. Will it 
pay to cater to a high-class trade? If 
so, cartons, labels, and advertising liter¬ 
ature must be provided, and now is the 
time to order them to be all ready for 
the busy sea.son. Perhaps a parcel post 
trade will pay; if so, shipping cartons 
will have to be procured. On the other 
hand, it may be best to ship all eggs to a 
wholesale dealer or commission man. In 
that case, egg crates will have to be pur¬ 
chased. There are a hundred and one 
other individual problems which will come 
up i ',0 the poultryman, but these are just 
a few of a general nature which will have 
to be met by all, and are merely sug¬ 
gested as remind<'rs to insure a large and 
profitable production for this year, above 
all others, every egg possible must be 
produced at the least possible cost of pro¬ 
duction, B. H. HANNAS. 
New Jersey. 
Rye for Chickens 
Is it all right to feed fully grown 
chickens old, broken-up rye with a scat¬ 
tering of wheat through it, say every other 
day, one meal? I know, of course, the 
wheat is all right, but have often heard 
rye was not good for chickens. 
Pennsylvania. MRS. J. K. n. 
Rye is a good food for fowls, when 
they will eat it. It does not appear to be 
palatable to most flocks, and trouble may 
be had in getting them to take kindly to 
it. I have known it to be fed in large 
quantities, however, and to the satisfac¬ 
tion of both fowls and their owner. A 
mixture of rye and wheat should make a 
good grain ration for your flock. 
OnTa.pKeep^'Vbtir ^ 
SiocrkHeolIlt^ ^ 
W ATER delivered fresh from H| 
the well, without storage, can- M 
not be contaminated — that’s why it gg 
keeps your stock healthy. 
Storage tanks are too liable to be 
breeding places for all kinds of disease 
germs. Nine times out of ten when 
one of your animals contracts a dis¬ 
ease the drinking water is the fault. 
NATIONAL 
Fresh Water System 
Bupplies freah water, continually, straight 
from the well, without storage. No chance 
for it to become contaminated, so there is 
no chance for your herd to become infected 
from the drinking water. 
The National System delivers a steady 
flow by compressed air—safest of all power 
—operating powerful air-driven pump in 
the wellitself. Absolutely dependable. No 
storage tank. 
Write today for full particulars and deal¬ 
er’s name. 
UNITED PUMP & PO'WER CO. 
763 Larkin St.. MILWAUKEE, WIS. 
See oar exhibit at the Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa 
and Nebraska State Fairs. 
NATIONAI. 
Freshwater System 
THE SELF-OIUNG WINDMILL 
has become so popular in its first three years that 
thousands have Been called lor to replace, on their 
old towers, other makes of mills, and replace, at 
small cost, the gearing of the earlier^ 
Aermotors. making them self-oil¬ 
ing. Its enclosed motors 
keeps in the oil and! 
keeps out dust and| 
rain.The Splash Oiling 
System constant! j ^ 
floods every bearing with oil pre-. 
venting wear ana enabling the* 
mill to pump in the lightest breezed _ 
The oil supply is renewed once a year. 
Double Gears are used, each carrying half the load 
We make Gasoline Engines. Pumps, Tanks, 
Water Supply Goods and Steel Frame Saws. 
IVrite AERMOTOR CO.. 2500 Twelfth SL, Chicago 
Milking Machines 
ABcICleftp B-K keeps tubes and cups sweet and 
Water dean. ^ Fenetrates milk solids^—kills the 
bactena. Is dean—harmless—cannot taint 
milk. B-K makes rubber parts last longer 
—canrsot harm metal. Used and recom* 
mended by Milking Machine Manufacturers 
for years. Cheapest in actual use—sold 
under guarantee. Get B-K today—'end sour 
milk troubles. Send us your order and your 
dealer's name* Send for dairy bulletins and 
•'trial offer." 
General Uboratcries- Madison, Wis. 
2763 S#. DickimM St. 
Your cnance is in Canada. Rich lands and 
business opportunities offer you independence. 
Farm lands $11 to $30 an acre; irrigated lands 
$35 to $50. Twenty years to pay; $2,000 loan 
in improvements, or ready-made farms. Loan 
of livestock. Taxes average under twenty 
cents an acre; no taxes on improvements, per¬ 
sonal property or livestock. Good markets, 
churches, schools, roads, telephones. Excel¬ 
lent climate—crops and livestock prove it. 
Special homeseekers’ fare certificates. Write 
for free booklets. Allan Cameron, General 
Superintendent Land Branch, Canadian I'a^ 
eifle Railway, 519 Ninth Avenue. Calgary, 
Alberta. 
CORN HARVESTER 
'That beats them all. One horse cuts two rows. Car¬ 
ries to the shock. Worked by 1, 2 or3 men. No dan¬ 
ger. No twine. Free trial. We also make STUMP 
PULLERS and TILE DITCHERS. Catalog free. Agents 
Wanted, h. D. BENNETT & CO..Westerville,O. 
lE have books on 
all subjects of 
farming by rec- 
ognized authorities. 
Write us and we will 
quote you prices .* 
• • 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th Street, New York 
