1122 
“Wo believe the consumer lias been paying too high 
a price for his food. We also believe the producer 
l.as been receiving too little. We think that we can 
improve the system, got a little more money our¬ 
selves, and save the consumer a little money, in 
some ways we will expect to receive a good deal 
more money ourselves and save tho consumer a lit tic 
money, but in all cases we will expect, to lower 
prices to the consumer at t c same time we aie in¬ 
creasing prices to ourselves.’’ 
PROFIT OR LOSS.—I know by experience that a 
butcher shop is not an intricate, a very expensive 
or a difficult proposition to handle, and I feel posi¬ 
tive that if the meat producers of America today 
belonged to an association in sufficient numbers to 
control half of the production, if they would start 
out and operate half the butcher shops throughout 
the country, and would do a moderate amount of 
advertising in the meantime, we could control the 
situation absolutely, and we would insure ourselves 
a reasonable profit instead of a sickening loss, as we 
nre facing today. Not one head of cattle is going 
into the great markets today at a price that will pay 
for our feeds, which are still at enormously high 
prices. Most of the cattle are bringing the farmer 
around 12 cents per pound. In order to produce 
such cattle we must have corn at about $ 1.10 a 
bushel. All of you know how close corn is to $1.10, 
or how close it has been to that price any day during 
the past year. 
EUROPEAN EXAMPLES.—Here in America we 
pride ourselves upon being more progressive or more 
clever than the Europeans. We are inclined to think 
that the Russian peasants, most of whom can neither 
read nor write, are on rather a low scale, but these 
same peasants have been co-operating together suc¬ 
cessfully for many years. We are inclined to joke 
about Englishmen who cannot see a joke, and who 
are supposed to be prejudiced, hard-headed and hard- 
fisted. but some of the most wonderful co-operative 
stunts the world has ever seen are in operation in 
England, and they were started by poor fellows with 
neither money nor any form of education to amount 
to anything, no business training nor anything else. 
As I understand their methods, they are extremely 
simple, and yet they' are as safe as anything can 
possibly be, the only thing vitally necessary about 
them being a league back of them and the deter¬ 
mination to succeed. Are we here in America 
going to claim that we are less efficient than the 
Russian peasants, or the English common people, 
who have organizations, also great co-operative in¬ 
stitutions? The English institutions started in a 
small way, just as we would have to start; a little 
company organized and started one store. Grad¬ 
ually the system has been built up until now you can 
buy anything from a battleship to a paper of* pins 
from tliese stores, and there is no question whatever 
about their absolute success. Farmers, as a class, 
are afraid to go into business. I do not know that 
1 blame them for this altogether when applied to 
ordinary business. The difficulties in the way of 
ordinary business are greater than many of us might 
suppose, but marketing our own products, using the 
simplest methods, methods which anybody could 
think out, with a league back of us, would, in my 
opinion, carry no danger whatever. It would be 
absolutely sure to succeed. 
WORLD-WIDE UNREST.—There is still another 
feature of the matter. Maybe I worry too much 
about national things, but it seems to me that other 
people worry too little. The whole world is in a 
state of unrest. The consumer thinks he is paying 
too much, the laboring man is on a perennial ram¬ 
page, and certain classes of men are industriously 
profiteering, while extravagance is the only thing 
that is looked upon with favor. We calmly watch 
the Government lose a million dollars a day on the 
railroads and shrug our shoulders and say, “What 
is the difference?” We watch the express companies 
disintegrate to absolute nonentities under Govern¬ 
ment operation, and even the mail service is so poor 
that it takes me five days to get a letter to Dayton, 
O., a distance of 40 miles, with only one lailxoad 
junction between. If my head is any good at all, 
the farmers themselves are in jjosition to rectify 
many of these evils. They can eliminate most of 
the profiteering in foods, thereby proving an abso¬ 
lute blessing to consumers everywhere, and thereby 
making possible a x-eduction in cost of labor, doing 
away with more dissatisfaction while they were 
bringing this about, and at the same time they 
•.vould he receiving much fairer prices for their own 
products than they are receiving today. Would not 
this be a genuine blessing to the entire nation? 
Ohio* 0HA8. B. WING. 
•Ph RURAL NEW-YORKER * 
Beautifying the Home Surroundings 
Within Reach of the Country Women 
Pakt II. 
PREPARING BEDS.—The permanent location 
should be thoroughly worked up and a very heavy 
application of rotted manure incorporated to a depth 
of 12 inches, or even IS inches would be better for 
best and more pei*manent results. When preparing 
the surface a liberal application of coarse bonemeal 
will be a great benefit. Do not be afraid to put it on 
so heavily that it will cause the men to groan at 
such apparent waste of a perfectly good fertilizing 
element. We use about HO lbs. to a bed 0x100 ft., 
and dig a large load of manure into the same space, 
being careful to keep tlie manure 3 or 4 in. from the 
top of the soil surface. A bed so prepared will have 
to be watched carefully the first season that it does 
not suffer from drought, the manure in the bottom 
being an excellent drainage medium. It will be a 
great advantage to mulch it rather heavily with any 
material that is convenient; lawn clippings, weeds 
that have not made any seed heads, straw, strawy 
manure, or any material that will retard evapora¬ 
tion. Frequent cultivation is the panacea for 
drought in farming, but in the flower border a heavy 
mulch will he the better treatment in conserving 
moisture. 
SELECTING VARIETIES.—You will find that 
after the plants are blooming there will be varieties 
that do not appeal to you, and will he likely doing 
just what the majority of us do each season—dig 
out what we do not care for and try something else, 
while others will be discarded on account of the dif¬ 
ficulty of getting a satisfactory growth. On the lat¬ 
ter score I am very much afraid that we will have to 
give the various Astilbes, a species that I admire 
especially, but seem unable to coax into healthy 
growth after repeated trials. They exist and that is 
all. [Evidently some local condition. With us in 
Northern New Jersey Astilbes grow wonderfully 
well, most of our specimens having been forced 
plants in bloom at Easter, which were planted out 
later, and after a year’s nursing growth and bloom 
were all we could desire.—Eds.] Spiraea Aruncus is 
another beautiful plant, being almost identical with 
the Astilbe; in fact, Bailey, in new edition of Cyclo¬ 
pedia’ of Horticulture, catalogues it as Astilboides, 
being of the same family as Astilbe Davidii and 
several others that we have, though Aruncus is mak¬ 
ing a beautiful growth and large feathery flower 
spikes at present. These plants are not easily pro¬ 
duced from seed; in fact, I have never seen the seed 
offered for sule, though Bailey says they are grown 
in that manner by sowing the seed in early Spring 
in the greenhouse. The proper, or rather the easiest 
manner in which to get a start with these plants is 
to purchase a few, and then divide for increase after 
the plants make a good growth. 
LIFTING PERENNIALS.—Nearly all perennials 
should be dug up every third year and divided, only 
a portion of the old clump being replanted, and the 
remainder given to friends in exchange for plants 
they may have that you do not have, or thrown out. 
When this dividing is done another lot of manure 
can be worked into the bed with excellent results to 
the plants. If you are fortunate enough to have 
any plants of Dietumnus Fraxinella, or I). Fraxin- 
ella alba, do not disturb them, as the longer they 
are iu one position the finer results they give. Lach 
Autumn after the ground freezes there should he 
several inches of fresh strawy manure placed over 
the beds as a Winter protection. Remove the 
coarest of it in the Spring, and work the fine por¬ 
tion into the soil. Do not hoe among the plants till 
you are sure they are all in sight, as some species 
are much later in making their appearance above 
ground than others. Especially does this apply to 
Salvia azurea, and S. uliginosa, as well as to the 
l’latycodons. Tall-growing plants, as the hollyhocks, 
Delphiniums, Anchusa, Bocconia, Astilbe, and all 
other tall varieties, should be supported to avoid 
damage by storms, which would otherwise beat 
them down. 
THE HARDY BORDER.—In arranging a border 
of hardy plants the location should always be taken 
into consideration, beginning at the rear, either 
along a fence, outbuilding, or wherever it is desired 
to plant, with the tallest growing plants you have, 
then working in the lower species till at the front 
you have the very low ones. By taking a little 
thought to the period of flowering it is possible so 
to arrange a border G ft. wide so that there is a suc¬ 
cession of bloom throughout almost the entire sea¬ 
son. Where it is desired to plant flowers as a beau¬ 
tifying adjunct to the vegetable garden, especially 
where there are no fences between tbe lawn and the 
July 2G, 1910 ,• 
vegetable planting, very pleasing results cani be ob¬ 
tained by a bed several feet wide at the edge of the 
lawn, of a mixture of Aquilegia, Dianthus, Alyssum, 
Oenothera, Iris, Gaillardia, Chrysanthemums and 
Coreopsis, if the space can be made 0 ft. or more 
in width, a beautiful bed could be planted by placing 
the tall species in the center and the medium and 
low varieties on either side. 
CLIMBING ROSES.—There are many excellent 
varieties of climbing roses offered now that are prac¬ 
tically mildew and insect proof. The one variety 
that you should not plant is tbe one that we see al¬ 
most everywhere, and that is Crimson Rambler. 
American Pillar, Dr. Van Fleet, Mary, Bess and 
Alida Lovett, Hiawatha, Excelsa, Dorothy Perkins, 
Elizabeth Ziegler, are all varieties of the highest 
merit, and a new one, possibly the most promising 
one in sight, with flowers that are dazzlingly bril¬ 
liant, is Paul’s Scarlet Climber. 
TREES AND EVERGREENS.—Where there are 
buildings that are too large to be covered with vines, 
trees should be used. Quick and satisfactory results 
can be used by using Carolina poplars planted be¬ 
tween the trees that you wish for permanence, 
though do not plant poplars to near a cesspool, as 
in a short time they will have it filled with roots. 
American elm is a beautiful, stately tree for a per¬ 
manent location. Norway maple is another, though 
I prefer Schwedleri. The silver maple is in the 
same class as the poplar, being rather undesirable on 
account of less resistance to storm than many other 
slower growing trees, and if planted near any kind 
of concrete pavement the roots are sure to eventu¬ 
ally break it up. There are many desirable trees in 
addition to these few named that can be planted for 
variety and utility. The best method for screen 
planting is to use evergreens in variety where it can 
possibly be done. There are many varieties of ever¬ 
greens that are of very slow growth that can be used 
to break up the monotony of a long border, or they 
could be planted as a background for a flower bor¬ 
der. Flowering shrubs also form an excellent back¬ 
ground for herbaceous perennials. All nursery cat¬ 
alogues describe many valuable and beautiful va¬ 
rieties of evergreens and shrubs, so it is not neces¬ 
sary to go into tbe list hei*e. 
THE ROSE GARDEN.—No home should be con¬ 
sidered complete without some roses, and most wom¬ 
en know how to root cuttings very successfully. In 
purchasing roses it should be the aim to get a few of 
the finest varieties on the list, so that they may in¬ 
deed be a thing of beauty and a joy for years. Ad¬ 
miral Ward, Frances Scott Key, Hoosier Beauty, 
Irish Fireflame, Los Angeles (the finest of them all), 
Mrs. Chas. Russell, National Emblem, Duchess of 
Wellington, Jonklieer J. L. Mock, Lady Ashtown 
(climbing Lady Ashtown is a beautiful climber that 
blooms at intervals throughout the season), Mrs. 
Aaron Ward, Ophelia, My Maryland and Mine. Ed¬ 
ouard I-Ierriot, or The Daily Mail, which are synony¬ 
mous. This is a small list, though a very good one, 
and any variety on it will he a soui-ce of constant 
pleasure to the owner. Roses should have a very 
rich soil, same as perennials, and should be protect¬ 
ed in the same manner during the Winter with a 
rather heavy mulch, the coarse portion of which 
should be removed iu the Spring and the remainder 
worked into the soil. Before growth starts in the 
Spring they should be pruned rather severely, cut¬ 
ting each cane back to within G or 8 in. of the ground. 
Slug shot, tobacco dust or nicotine spray can be used 
for combating the insects. A border of medium tall 
growing perennials would be a good background for 
annuals, as geraniums, Petunias, or any of the other 
999 varieties listed in the seed catalogues. 
PLANTING PLANS.—The outlines to be printed 
next week, in connection with, the table of varieties, 
to which reference can readily be made, are merely 
suggestive as to arrangement, and can be modified 
to suit any environment. The figures noted iu each 
space denote the variety that may be used at that 
point, or several that are close proximity may he 
used with other arrangement of the beds than shown 
here. The figures correspond to the figures of the 
varieties mentioned in the text. One of the chief 
aims in planting for a general beautifying effect 
should be the endeavor to blot out from the view of 
the house every necessary, though perhaps unsightly, 
outbuilding that is needed on the farm. Low sheds, 
or'any other objects that it may be desirable to 
obscure, could be very effectually treated with 
arbors on which climbing roses, Clematis panicul.ata 
or any of tbe other of tbe hardy climbing vines 
listed in tbe catalogues of tbe various houses and 
nurseries are trained in any manner desired. 
Pennsylvania. elmek j. weanek. 
