14 
TH  IS  RURAL  NEW  -Y  OR  KECK. 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER'S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  nn<l  Suburban  Home* 
Established  two 
Published  werkty  hj  tlio  Tiural  rnbllshimr  fompunj.  2. }■ "  lYt*si  90tb  Sirrot.New  York 
H krukut  TV.  Colllsijwood.  President  a-ml  Editor. 
Jons  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
TVm.  F.  Dillon,  Sceretaiy.  Mas.  K.  T.  Rovi.b,  Associate  Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION:  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
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order,  personal  check  or  bank  draft. 
Entered  at  New  York  Post  Office  as  Second  Class  Matter. 
Advertising  rates,  75  cents  per  agate  line — 7  words.  References  required  for 
advertisers  unknown  to  us  ;  and  cash  must  accompany  transient  orders. 
"A  SQUARE  DEAL” 
We  believe  that  every  advertisement  in  this  paper  is  backed  by  a  respon¬ 
sible  J'l.i-sfm.  We  Is.-  every  pusaihlc  nrrejiminn  and  admit  the  advertising  of 
reliable  bouses  only.  Rot  to  make  doubly  sure,  wo  will  make  coud  any  lose 
to  pxki  suhserfbera  sustained  by  trusting  any  deliberate  swindler,  irrespon¬ 
sible  advertisers  or  mlshviiiing  advertisements  in  onr  columns.  »ttd  any 
sue!  swindler  will  be  publicly  exposed.  We  are  also  often  called  upon 
to  adjust  diiTerruees  or  riiistatt.'s  laHween  our  subscribers  and  honest, 
resjuinttlWe  liouses,  «  lierher  tulveri  isers  or  not.  We  willingly  use  our  good 
offices  to  this  end,  hut  such  ostsn*  should  not  be  confused  with  dishoilpst 
trsnKcetions.  IVo  protect  tajbsgribms  against  rognes,  but.  we  will  not  be 
responsible  for  the  ilrtts  of  honest  bankrupts  saneiimi,d  bv  the  courts. 
Notice  of  the  complaint  must  be  sent  to  us  within  one  month  of  t  he  time  of 
the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it,  you  should  mention  Thk  litit.M,  New- 
YoRKEtt  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
AX  old  friend  of  years  ago,  when  life  was  young¬ 
er  and  a  little  brighter  colored,  steps  unexpect¬ 
edly  out  of  the  past  with  the  following  verse.  He 
does  not.  pretend  to  be  a  poet,  but  the  sentiment  is 
so  homely  and  heartfelt  that  we  just  stamp  an 
“Amen”  on  it  and  pass  it  on  to  our  readers: 
“It  isn't  that  you  need  it. 
It  may  be  you  won't  read  it, 
And  there  isn't  any  special,  blessed 
reason  that  you  should ; 
But  I  seud  it  at  this  season 
For  the  very  selfish  reason 
Tbat  to  wish  you  ‘Merry  Christmas’ 
Makes  me  feel  so  bully  good.” 
* 
THE  Hope  Farm  man.  on  page  1311,  makes  a 
suggestion  which  might  be  extended.  A  young 
minister  is  preaching  the  “two  blades  of  grass” 
theory.  As  a  cure  the  Hope  Farm  man  suggests  that 
a  fair  canvass  be  made  on  the  farms  within  10  miles 
of  the  church  to  find  just  what  part  of  the  final  re¬ 
tail  price  the  farmers  receive  for  their  goods.  Also 
let  it  be  known  how  many  pounds,  or  bushels,  of 
their  products  these  farmers  must  give  for  a  pair 
of  boots,  clothes  or  other  necessities.  Now  we  think 
this  might  prove  fine  work  for  the  pupils  in  our 
country  schools.  We  would  like  to  cooperate  with 
any  teachers  who  will  take  the  matter  up.  In  “The 
Brown  Mouse”  we  are  told  of  a  teacher  who  revolu¬ 
tionized  a  school  and  a  district  by  introducing  such 
figuring. 
* 
T11E  New  York  State  workmen's  compensation 
law  does  not  cover  farm  employment,  accord¬ 
ing  to  a  late  decision  in  the  ease  of  Michael  Milyo, 
a  farmhand  who  lost  his  arm  in  a  thrashing  ma¬ 
chine.  Milyo  was  employed  by  Derrian  La  dew  on  a 
farm  in  the  town  of  Ba  listen.  Ladew  had  hired 
Halter  and  Sweet,  thrashers,  to  work  for  him,  and 
Milyo  was  working  about  the  machine  assisting  the 
thrashers,  when  his  arm  was  caught  and  severed  at 
the  elbow.  Milyo  filed  a  claim  for  damages  with 
the  Compensation  Commission,  and  Deputy  Commis¬ 
sioner  Abbott  gave  a  hearing.  When  it  developed 
that  Milyo  was  employed  and  paid  by  Ladew  as  a 
farmhand,  the  case  was  dismissed.  Had  the  man 
been  employed  by  the  thrashers  and  injured  he 
would  have  received  compensation.  Many  questions 
regarding  workmen  employed  by  farmers  come  up 
and  are  settled  by  the  Commissioners  one  at  a 
time.  Some  of  them  cannot  be  answered  yet  be¬ 
cause  they  have  not  been  settled. 
* 
TIIE  article  by  Mr.  Survey  on  first  page  is 
in  line  with  what  we  have  said  is  coming  in 
(lie  milk  business.  We  think  many  fruit  growers 
and  gardeners  on  comparatively  small  farms  are  to 
keep  more  cows.  By  putting  up  a  silo  and  using  the 
rougher  land  for  corn  they  can  provide  a  large 
amount  of  feed  without  interfering  with  the  fruit 
or  garden  crops.  This  gives  profitable  Winter  work 
while  the  manure  is  put  to  good  use  in  their  con¬ 
centrated  farming.  Of  course  a  ton  of  manure  will 
give  greater  returns  when  used  on  strawberries, 
cabbage  or  celery  than  when  used  on  com  to  fill 
the  silo.  Such  farmers  will  have  small  herds,  but 
the  animals  will  be  choice  and  well-bred.  While 
the  herds  will  be  small  there  will  be  many  of  them — 
enough  to  make  quite  a  difference  in  the  milk  sup¬ 
ply.  Of  course  there  will  always  he  dairy  farmers 
who  produce  milk  as  their  chief  crop.  Some  of 
them  will  be  forced  out  of  the  business  but  their 
places  will  be  more  than  filled  by  the  fruit  and  vege¬ 
table  growers  who  keep  cows  as  a  side  line. 
* 
IMMEDIATELY  after  the  milk  conference,  report¬ 
ed  two  weeks  ago,  the  New  York  papers  began 
to  print  stories  about  a  milk  shortage.  These  stor¬ 
ies  were  evidently  inspired  by  the  large  milk  deal¬ 
ers,  who  must  have  an  excuse  for  increasing  prices. 
/ 
j 
They  want  to  give  city  people  the  impression  that 
the  farmers  are  responsible  for  any  shortage  or  in¬ 
crease  in  price.  The  fact  is  that  farmers,  or  most 
of  them,  are  producing  milk  at  u  loss  on  any  basis 
which  the  dealers  would  use  in  figuring  their  own 
business.  Most  of  them  are  obliged  to  continue  in 
Ihe  business  because  they  have  expensive  fixtures 
which  could  not  well  be  used  for  any  other  kind  of 
farming.  They  are  obliged  to  take  what  is  offered 
them  because  there  is  no  fair  competition  in  the 
final  price.  The  proposed  large  creamery,  located  iu 
New  York,  would  create  such  competition  and  es¬ 
tablish  a  standard  price  for  each  week  or  month. 
If  it  could  handle  a  large  enough  supply  it  could 
regulate  prices  and  create  a  fair  distribution  be¬ 
tween  producer  and  consumer.  Of  course  the  big 
dealers  see  this,  and  they  will  naturally  oppose  this 
plan,  with  every  weapon  they  can  find. 
* 
We  have  some  big  southern  papers  that  are  fine 
newsy  papers,  but  carry  advertisements  telling  my 
hoys  where  they  can  get  good  whisky  for  Christmas. 
Such  papers  are  not  allowed  to  come  into  my  home,  nor 
would  I  accept  a  plowshare  wrapped  in  one  of  them. 
I  am  glad  to  see  that  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  is 
about  to  end  this,  be  it  said  to  the  shame  of  these 
papers.  w.  E.  davis. 
South  Carolina. 
HE  point  of  this  is  that  country  people  are  now 
examining  the  advertisements  in  their  papers. 
Formerly  they  did  not  realize  their  significance,  or 
excused  them  ou  the  theory  that  the  paper  must 
take  this  unclean  money  in  order  to  live!  Now  they 
see  that  a  paper  would  better  he  dead  than  live  to 
cany  unclean  advertising  into  the  home.  This  ad¬ 
vertising  test  is  a  good  one.  It  reflects  the  char¬ 
acter  of  the  paper.  The  fraud  and  faker,  or  bribe 
taker,  may  hide  himself  inside  a  well-written  edi¬ 
torial,  but  the  open  advertisement  cannot  be  evaded. 
* 
What  The  Rural  Xkw-Yorker  has  done  and  is  do¬ 
ing  in  York  Stale,  other  papers  and  other  factors  have 
been  and  are  doing  in  other  States.  It  is  a  poor  sort 
of  pride  that  is  “too  proud  to  fight.”  It  is  terribly  un¬ 
profitable,  too.  The  produce  trade  has  hitherto  been 
too  “proud,”  too  lazy  or  too  helpless  to  fight. 
HIS  is  from  onr  old  friend  Tlw  Fruitmou's 
Guide.  It  is  true  that  The  R.  N.-Y.  states 
openly  and  so  all  can  hear  that  the  farmers  of  the 
country  do  not  get  a  square  deal  in  the  market. 
They  get  a  35-cent  dollar,  and  we  certainly  do  our 
best  to  make  tbat  fact  known.  We  do  it  openly,  and 
we  do  not  care  who  knows  it,  or  whether  they  like 
it  or  not.  for  this  market  question  is  the  biggest 
problem  before  the  people  today.  It  is  the  privilege  of 
the  produce  trade  to  fight — but  what  have  they  got 
to  fight  about?  They  cannot  defend  the  present 
system  of  distribution  and  sale  of  farm  produce. 
The  dog  in  the  manger  lying  on  the  hay  which  he 
could  not  eat  was  a  growler,  hut  no  fighter.  The 
cow  was  afraid  of  his  growl.  She  should  have  put 
one  sharp  horn  under  his  ribs  and  lifted  him  out! 
The  produce  trade  has  nothing  to  fight  for  but  graft. 
The  more  it  lights  the  more  it  educates  the  pro¬ 
ducers.  The  R.  N.-Y.  is  not  too  proud  to  fight  in 
u  good  cause.  We  may  be  lazy  but.  we  are  far  from 
‘  helpless”  with  half  a  milliou  earnest  readers.  We 
do  not  believe  in  scolding  or  cackling  or  playing  any 
ladylike  game,  but  we  will  stand  up  or  go  to  the 
mat  if  need  be  over  this  35-cent  dollar  proposition. 
* 
The  Station  therefore,  advises  the  use  of  1500  to 
2000  pounds  of  a  fertilizer  carrying  five  per  cent,  of 
ammonia  with  one-third  of  the  nitrogen  in  the  form  of 
nitrate  of  soda  and  eight  per  cent,  or  even  10  per  cent, 
of  available  phosphoric  acid  and  no  potash  for  1916. 
With  people  who  have  been  getting  good  results  from  a 
fertilizer  carrying  four  per  cent,  of  ammonia  a  4-10-0 
fertilizer  would  probably  prove  satisfactory. 
Maine  Exp.  Station.  CHAS.  D.  WOODS. 
R.  WOODS  says  this  after  conducting  elaborate 
fertilizing  experiments  with  Maine’s  great  com¬ 
mercial  crop — potatoes.  If  any  of  the  ordinary  East¬ 
ern  farm  crops  would  suffer  from  a  shortage  of  pot¬ 
ash  it  would  certainly  he  the  potato.  Dr.  Woods 
found  that  while  potash  did  give  something  of  an 
increased  yield  there  was  not  enough  to  pay  a  profit 
at  the  present  high  potash  prices.  Soil  on  farms 
Tihich  have  been  well  fertilized  in  the  past  gave 
good  yields  of  potatoes  without  potash  and  thus  the 
advice  is  to  go  ahead  with  nitrogen  and  phosphoric 
acid.  Practically  the  same  conclusions  have  been 
reached  all  over  the  Eastern  States — that  at  present 
prices  farmers  cannot  afford  to  use  potash  on  or¬ 
dinary  farm  crops.  They  will,  however,  use  nitrogen 
and  phosphoric  acid  freely.  Some  enthusiastic 
writers  are  going  further  and  claiming  that  we  shall 
not  need  potash  in  the  future.  We  cannot  follow 
them  in  this,  and  the  advice  should  be  taken  with 
great  caution  when  at  the  close  of  the  war  potash 
comes  down  once  more  to  a  normal  price.  There 
have  always  been  soils  containing  an  abundance  of 
potash,  and  without  doubt  money  has  been  wasted 
in  using  that  element  on  such  soils.  There  are  on 
the  other  hand  great  stretches  of  soil  which  cannot 
January  1,  1916. 
produce  successfully  year  after  year  unless  potash 
is  supplied,  and  a  full  supply  should  he  used  as  soon 
as  the  price  comes  within  reason. 
* 
DURING  the  past  year  death  has  touched  many 
dear  and  loyal  friends  who  had  become  a  part 
of  business  and  social  life.  The  latest  one  to  pass 
iff  into  the  shadow  is  Geo.  D.  Leavens,  president  of 
the  Coe-Mortimer  Company.  Through  many  years 
of  intimate  association  we  had  come  to  know  George 
Leavens  as  a  big,  strong,  true,  tender-hearted  man; 
the  soul  of  business  honor,  white  as  the  snow  in 
character,  sound  as  a  rock  in  loyalty  and  friend¬ 
ship,  and  with  a  deep,  kindly  sympathy  for  all  who 
needed  his  help.  He  hated  humbug  and  sham,  and 
he  loved  honesty  and  sincerity.  We  always  knew 
just  exactly  where  to  find  George  Leavens,  and  we 
always  knew  ihat  his  advice  and  council  needed  no 
investigation  or  question.  This  big,  strong,  faithful 
friend  lived  his  life  well.  The  world  is  better  be¬ 
cause  he  lias  lived  in  it,  and  life  would  seem  a  little 
darker  now  that  he  has  gone  were  it  not  for  the 
hope  and  brightness  which  such  lives  leave  behind 
them.  He  has  passed  on  into  the  unseen  country, 
hut  his  memory  will  ever  live  with  us  like  a  beau¬ 
tiful  picture  of  a  dear  friend. 
* 
WE  begin  the  year  for  the  barn  folk  with  pic¬ 
tures  of  the  foundation  of  the  balanced  ra¬ 
tion.  Alfalfa  and  eorn  silage  are  the  twins  of  dairy 
prosperity.  When  they  are  left  in  a  basket  at  the' 
fanner’s  door,  that  farm  is  blessed  and  the  cows 
share  the  blessing.  The  sheaf  of  Alfalfa  and  the 
basket  of  silage  make  of  themselves  a  fair  balanced 
ration.  It  usually  pays  to  add  some  digestible  con¬ 
centrates  in  the  way  of  grain,  but  the  legume  and 
Ihe  corn  must  remain  the  cornerstone  of  dairying. 
Except  on  favored  tracts  of  soil  Alfalfa  has  not 
made  great  progress  in  the  Eastern  States.  Where 
it  does  grow  well  it  has  proved  a  wonder  for  build¬ 
ing  up  the  soil  and  increasing  the  value  of  land. 
With  greater  care  in  seediug  and  the  use  of  the  Si¬ 
berian  varieties  it  will  spread  over  thousands  more 
acres  during  the  next  few  years,  and  the  acreage 
in  clover  is  hound  to  increase.  We  suggest  the  plan 
of  mixing  in  a  little  Alfalfa  seed  whenever  clover 
is  seeded  and  we  would  also  use  more  Alsilce  with 
the  Red  or  Mammoth.  Next  to  Alfalfa  clover  is  the 
best  thing  to  feed  with  eorn  silage,  hut  there  is  not 
half  enough  of  it  grown  in  New  York.  New  Jersey 
or  New  England.  We  know  that  trials  of  Siberian 
Alfalfa  and  Alsike  clover  will  help  put  these  profit- 
aide  legumes  on  many  a  soil  which  now  produces 
nothing  but  poor  grass.  There  are  better  times  com¬ 
ing  for  dairymen.  Alfalfa  or  clover  hay  and  corn 
silage  must  ever  be  the  foundation  of  the  dairy 
business. 
♦ 
WE  find  great  interest  taken  in  tractors  for 
plowing  or  hauling  heavy  loads  in  farm  fam¬ 
ilies  where  there  is  a  motor  ear.  The  hoys  have 
seen  the  driving  horse  blown  off  the  road  by  gaso¬ 
line.  Once  limited  to  a  drive  of  10  miles,  they  now 
easily  travel  50.  As  the  circle  of  acquaintance 
around  the  home  farm  is  widened  there  comes  a 
feeling  of  mastery  and  power,  and  the  young  people 
ask,  with  justice,  why  the  work  on  the  farm  may 
not.  keep  pace  with  life  on  the  road.  If  gasoline 
blows  new  Joy  into  play  why  not  also  into  work? 
Thus  it  is  that  popular  farm  thought  is  centering 
upon  the  tractor.  Five  years  ago  most  farmers  con¬ 
cluded  that  the  machine  was  only  for  the  rich  farm¬ 
er  with  many  acres  to  work.  Now  they  conclude 
that  it  may  be  for  them  as  well.  We  remember  that 
the  motor  ear  came  into  popular  use  In  much  the 
same  way.  At  first  a  few  expensive  cars  puffed 
along  the  road.  Farmers  protested  and  fought 
against  these  “benzine  buggies”  for  a  lime.  Then 
their  feelings  changed  as  they  saw  the  convenience 
and  power  of  the  cars,  and  they  began  to  buy  them¬ 
selves.  What  seemed  at  first  impossible  became  a 
necessity  when  through  evolution  the  ear  came  down 
to  their  practical  needs.  We  think  it  will  be  much 
the  same  with  the  tractor.  In  time  we  shall  have 
a  workable  machine  costing  about  as  much  as  a 
span  of  high-class  horses.  This  machine  will. plow, 
harrow,  run  a  scraper  or  haul  a  load  of  hay  or 
manure,  and  when  the  outside  work  is  over  hold 
up  one  foot  and  kick  motion  into  any  machine  that 
turns  a  wheel.  This  is  coming  as  surely  as  the 
motor  car  came  up  the  road. 
Brevities 
The  Pharisee  is  always  a  parasite. 
The  false  prophet  usually  figures  out  a  false  and 
easy  mural  profit. 
If  our  opinion  is  worth  anything  you  may  have  it 
freely.  Some  of  these  editors  who  are  preaching  in 
the  editorial  columns  and  preying  in  the  advertisements 
are  both  scribes  and  pharisees. 
