888 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  JtmvfRSS  FARM ET!' 8  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  nn<l  Suburban  Home* 
Katahlfshfiil  19SQ 
rulili.li.il  w  frit  It  by  ibr  Rural  I’tiblithlnr  Company,  8*3  Wr*t  SOIh  Strrot,\rw  l'ork 
IIkkkkrt  W.  Cni.T.ixT.wriru),  Pri  tfidonl  anil  Editor. 
John  .1  tlrUyON,  Hwa*tiror  anil  (icm-ial  Staimyr, 
Win.  F.  Dillon,  Rrcroiary.  Mil;.  K.  T.  Itor i.r.  Amoelale  Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION  :  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
To  foreign  count  rlofl  in  tlio  I'nlocrual  I'oslnl  Union,  >2.01,  equal  to  *s.  fld.,  or 
*1^  iriHik*,  or  M>$  franca.  Remit  In  money  order,  exprejw 
order,  |n-i  annul  cbcclc  or  bank  draft. 
Entered  at  New  York  I’ottf,  Office  am  Second  CIiisr  Matter. 
Advert i^inir  rate*.  cerita  jicr  aerate  line — ?  words.  Reference'-;  required  for 
advertisers  unknown  to  u»  ;  and  cash  must  iteeompany  transient,  orders. 
A  SyUAKK  DEAR” 
We  believe  that  every  advertisement,  in  tliis  paper  is  barked  by  n  respon¬ 
sible  pert. in.  We  -iM|t  even  possible  precaution  and  admit  tlic  advert  laing  of 
reliable  houses  only .  Rut  to  make  doubly  sure,  tve  will  make  trend  any  loss 
to  |Mid  fculiwsrthSfa  sustained  by  IrU'lituc  any  deliberate  swindler,  irrespon- 
sililt  advertiser*  nr  mtaloadiiif'  odvsit.lHi  merits  in  our  col u inns  find  any 
sue  1 1  >\  miller  will  be  pulibely  exposed.  Wo  arc  also  often  Called  upon 
to  adjust  dllfrtcnccs  or  mistakes  between  our  HUbscrihcta  and  honest, 
responsible  house: .  whether  advertisers  or  not.  We  willingly  use  our  good 
niters  to  till*  end,  but  such  ease*  should  not  he  confused  with  dishonest 
tin  reactions.  We  protect  su User! boll  against  rogues,  but  we  will  not  be 
responsible  for  the  debts  ot  honest  bankrupts  sanctioned  by  me  courts. 
Notice  of  the  complaint  must  be  sent  to  us  within  one  month  of  the  time  of 
the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it.  you  should  mention  Tins  Rural  -Nkw- 
YoKKKR  alien  writing  the  advertiser. 
IT  is  renia rkahle  how  t.liis  idea  of  using  (lust  in 
place  of  liquid  spray  for  biting  insects  and  plant 
diseases  is  spreading.  Such  growers  as  .7.  A.  IIop- 
worth  and  .1.  li.  Hale  are  giving  it  full  trial.  It 
requires  great  faith  for  men  who  pride  themselves 
on  producing  the  finest  fruit  to  break  away  from 
standard  old  methods  and  try  this  new  plan. 
* 
MANY  of  our  readers  have  laughed  or  »been 
made  thoughtful  at  the  humor  and  philoso¬ 
phy  of  "Josiah  Allen's  Wife.”  They  will  find  a 
strong  flush  of  the  ohl  tire  in  “A  Safe  and  Sane 
Fourth”  which  is  printed  on  page  SOS.  There  is 
more  to  this  than  mere  fun  or  gentle  sarcasm,  for 
who  can  point  to  anything  more  absurd  <>r  danger¬ 
ous  than  tlie  usual  method  of  ‘‘celebrating”  Inde¬ 
pendence  Day? 
* 
PENNSYLVANIA  has  a  law  prohibiting  any  per¬ 
son  from  using  the  word  ‘‘bone’*  in  connection 
with  fertilizers  or  any  pa  it  of  them  unless  such  fer¬ 
tilizer  contains  its  phosphoric  acid  in  the  form  of 
pure  animal  hone.  Those  who  use  phosphoric  rock 
either  raw  or  as  a  superphosphate  have  in  the  past 
often  tried  to  make  it  appear  that  they  used  a  pure 
bone.  Advertisements  of  phosphate  rook  have  con¬ 
tained  the  picture  of  a  hone  in  an  evident  attempt 
to  make  farmers  think  they  were  buying  pure  bone 
goods.  Y.’e  refused  to  print  such  advertisements  as 
we  felt  if  was  a  misrepresentation.  T1  is  true  that 
most,  if  not  all,  the  phosphorus  used  as  fertilizer 
was  at  one  time  in  tin*  form  of  hone.  There  is  a 
great  difference  between  the  organic  bone  and  the 
petrified  sample  which  lias  been  turned  to  stone, 
and  we  think  the  law  which  compels  a  separation  of 
the  two  in  name  is  a  good  one. 
* 
THE  dairy  business  is  sure  to  make  great  changes 
in  tin*  near  future.  As  we  have  pointed  out, 
small  herds  of  choice  cattle  will  appear  on  thou¬ 
sands  of  fruit  and  poultry  farms.  While  these  may 
be  small  herds  there  will  he  so  many  of  them  that 
the  output,  of  milk  will  he  quite  an  item  in  the  busi¬ 
ness.  Then  there  are  other  changes  coming.  Some 
months  ago  we  described  Mr.  Sinclair’s  work  in 
Texas.  He  feeds  singed  cactus  to  dairy  cows — thus 
mailing  a  superior  milk  at  low  cost.  There  are 
vast  possibilities  in  this  business  ami  they  are  work¬ 
ing  out.  Fin1  instance,  one  tract  of  40,000  acres  in 
Northern  Mexico  will  he  pat  into  cactus  dairying  as 
soon  as  conditions  warrant  and  the  country  is  safe. 
Thus  what  is  known  as  the  “dairy  belt”  is  shifting. 
It  will  go  to  the  Alfalfa  lands  in  the  North  and  the 
sorghum  and  cactus  at  the  South. 
* 
EVERY  farmer  in  Pennsylvania  should  have  a 
copy  of  Bulletin  275,  issued  by  the  State  De¬ 
partment  of  Agriculture.  II  contains  the  full  text 
of  the  Pennsylvania  lime  law,  and  a  list  of  manu¬ 
facturers  who  offer  lime  for  sale.  As  a  child  we 
were  taught  to  believe  that  Pennsylvania  farmers 
knew  more  about  the  use  of  lime  than  any  others, 
yet  today  a  large  share  of  our  lime  questions  come 
from  that  Stale.  This  law  was  found  necessary  to 
regulate  the  sale  of  lime  and  give  legal  character  to 
each  kind  on  the  market.  On  page  S8.‘J  will  he  found 
the  15  definitions  of  various  kinds  of  lime.  The 
foundation  of  it  all  is  this : 
"l.inn  is  the  product  obtained  bn  the  complete 
burning  of  limestone  in  a  kiln  and  capable  of  being 
reduced  bg  .staking  to  a  fine  powder 
Under  this  law  any  persons  offering  lime  for  sale 
must  brand  it  properly  and  state  the  guaranteed 
analysis.  A  license  fee  must  be  paid  and  samples 
are  taken  for  analysis.  An  effort  is  made  in  this 
law  to  give  the  buyer  of  lime  the  same  protection 
which  a  buyer  of  fertilizer  has  received.  The  idea 
3s  a  good  one  and  ought  to  lie  taken  up  by  other 
States.  During  the  year  wo  have  a  number  of 
cases  where  lime  buyers  have  been  made  victims  of 
a  sharp  game.  People  buy  lime  on  an  analysis 
which  guarantees  90  per  cent,  or  more  of  lime.  They 
think  they  are  buying  caustic  lime  and  pay  for  it. 
What  they  really  get.  is  limestone  with  1)0  per  cent, 
of  carbonate  of  lime  but  only  about  50  per  cent,  of 
actual  lime.  This  would  he  clear  robbery  but  for 
the  fact,  that  some  manufacturers  and  dealers  do  not 
seem  to  know  the  difference — but  thousands  of  dol¬ 
lars  are  annually  lost  to  farmers  through  failures  to 
have  a  clear,  legal  basis  for  the  sale  of  lime. 
* 
ON  June  1  the  Dairymen's  League  met  at  Al¬ 
bany  and  unanimously  decided  to  demand  a 
better  price  for  milk.  The  Secretary  states  the 
proposition  concisely  as  follows: 
The  current  preos  received  for  milk  under  existing 
conditions  are  inadequate  and  not  a  fair  return  for 
the  capital  invested  and  labor  expended.  The  average 
price  received  for  milk  is  about  3%  cents  per  quart, 
which  will  not  Cover  the  cost  of  production  under  the 
present  Board  of  Health  restrictions,  cost  of  feeds, 
labor  and  the  increasing  prices  of  all  supplies  the 
farmer  must  pun-base.  The  price  paid  for  a  ton  of 
feed  is  often  more  than  the  farmer  receives  for  a  ton 
of  milk.  Much  conditions  are  intolernl.de.  and  are  forc¬ 
ing  milk  producers  out  of  the  business.  The  feeling  of 
discontent  is  running  high  and  unless  some  readjust¬ 
ment  is  made  nothing  will  stop  them  from  adopting 
similar  measures  to  those  used  by  the  Illinois  producers. 
AI.UKKT  MANNING. 
We  think  Mr.  Manning  is  right.  In  the  present 
temper  of  the  farmers  they  are  rapidly  reaching 
the  position  which  made  it  possible  for  those  Chi¬ 
cago  dairymen  to  unite  and  win  their  increase.  It 
is  true  that  former  attempts  have  failed,  but  the 
conditions  are  entirely  different,  now,  and  the  milk 
dealers  realize  it.  Now  Hie  first  tiling  to  do  is  to 
demand  thal  the  legislative  committee  to  investigate 
!he  milk  business  get  going  at  once.  What  are  they 
waiting  for?  There  was  long  delay  in  appointing  the 
members,  hut  at  last  this  announcement  is  made: 
SENATORS 
Charles  S.  Wicks,  Sauqnolt,  Farmer. 
M.  S.  Halliday,  Ithaca,  Lawyer. 
N.  M.  Marshall,  Malone,  Banker. 
D.  .T.  Carroll,  Brooklyn,  Manufacturer. 
REPRE8E  NTATIVES 
II.  E.  Mac-hold,  Ellisburg.  Farmer. 
W.  W.  Law,  .Ti\,  Briareliff  Manor.  Real  Estate. 
1L  L.  Brant,  Copenhagen,  Cheese  Merchant. 
D.  P.  Witter,  Lecturer. 
F.  ,T.  Taylor,  Brooklyn,  Merchant. 
These  “occupations”  are  taken  from  the  legisla¬ 
tive  manual.  We  understand  that  Mr.  Wicks  is 
also  a  lawyer  and  Mr.  Witter  has  been  a  farmer. 
This  investigation  should  have  been  well  under 
way  by  this  time.  It  should  not  he  permitted  to  daw¬ 
dle  and  drag  along,  but  it  will  probably  do  so  unless 
the  farmers  build  a  fire  under  those  investigators. 
Ink  will  burn  with  red  heat  if  you  write  it  out 
into  honest  conviction  and  put  a  postage  stamp  on 
it!  This  investigation  must  start  at  once.  It  will, 
if  properly  conducted,  bring  out:  the  truth  about  the 
New  York  milk  situation.  That  truth  must  be 
made  known  and  published  before  contracts  for 
another  year  are  signed.  This  investigation  is  the 
lirst  step  in  the  campaign  and  every  dairyman  in 
the  State  should  demand  that  it  start  at  once! 
* 
I  am  a  subscriber  to  The  1*.  N.-Y.  and  wish  to  say 
just  a  word  in  regard  to  the  .'Jo-con t  dollar.  1  furnish 
inilk  for  K’.  F.  Stevens  Co.  of  Brooklyn,  who  have  a 
inilk  plant  located  at.  Salt.  Point,  Dutchess  Co..  N.  Y. 
<)n  June  1st  the  price  of  milk  dropped  to  2%  cents 
per  quart.  This  is  a  flat  price;  they  make  no  differ¬ 
ence  in  regard  to  bntterfat  lest.  1  am  making  hotter 
than  a  four  per  cent,  milk  now.  What  is  the  matter 
with  the  Dairymen's  League?  What  have  they  ever 
done?  Isn’t  it  time  they  redeemed  themselves?  Any 
person  who  says  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  25- cent, 
dollar  must  be  utterly  devoid  of  that  gray  matter  com¬ 
monly  called  brains.  LEONARD  n.  HAIGHT. 
E  sometimes  think  that  the  more  gray  mat¬ 
ter  there  is  in  a  man's  head  the  more  useless 
his  brains  are.  Brains,  without  a  balance  wheel  of 
sympathy  or  common  sense,  may  be  worse  for  a 
community  than  a  pestilence.  We  know  men  who 
sit  in  a  laboratory  or  library  and  never  get  off  Ibe 
stone  pavement.  They  will  prove  by  the  fraction  of 
a  hair  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  25  cent  dol¬ 
lar.  They  have  brains  and  their  heads  are  filled 
with  gray  matter.  The  I  rouble  is  their  head  mat¬ 
ter  is  too  gray!  They  need  a  little  of  the  white  of 
sympathy  and  the  red  of  righteous  anger  at  the 
present  trade  injustice.  Their  brains  are  so  ripe 
that  they  have  gone  to  seed,  and  the  pity  of  it  is 
that  these  bloodless  characters  undertake  to  dictate 
the  thought  and  education  of  the  people.  There  is 
only  one  cure  for  Ihem.  Take  away  their  income, 
put  tjiem  out  on  a  farm  and  make  them  live  and 
June  17,  1916, 
support  a  family  on  the  share  of  their  products 
which  the  middlemen  and  handlers  will  leave  them. 
As  they  are  now  these  brainy  men  would  toll  Mi*. 
Haight  he  is  all  wrong — that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  a  25-cent  dollar.  Then  they  would  prove  it  by 
a  volume  of  figures.  Bet  them  out  on  the  farm  and 
they  would  drop  figures  and  call  for  a  fight. 
* 
As  I  remember  it,  when  the  denatured  alcohol  law 
was  being  advocated  the  government  experts  said  that 
it  could  bo  produced  for  six  cents  per  gallon.  I  have  to 
pay  50  to  00  cents  per  gallon.  Why?  o.  n.  t. 
Massachusetts. 
E  doubt  if  any  reputable  “government  ex¬ 
ports”  ever  made  any  such  statement.  At 
the  time  this  campaign  was  engineered  through 
Congress  the  papers  were  filled  with  figures  but  we 
could  not  trace  them  down  to  reliable  |- tidies.  It 
usually  happens  that  when  big  business  wants  to  put 
a  bill  of  this  sort  through  Congress  they  hire  scien¬ 
tific  men  to  make  the  most  plausible  arguments  to 
win  popular  support.  Thus  we  see  men  representing 
great  universities  selling  their  opinions  to  bolster  up 
the  reputation  of  some  suspicious  food  or  some  fine 
scheme  like  this  alcohol  legislation.  The  farmers 
were  clearly  and  completely  buncoed  in  that  deal, 
and  by  men  who  professed  to  represent  them.  The 
manufacturers  got  cheap  alcohol — the  farmers,  who 
forced  the  hill  through  Congress — got  nothing.  You 
have  to  pay  50  cents  a  gallon  for  alcohol  while  thou¬ 
sands  of  barrels  of  fruit,  rot  on  the  ground  for  lack 
of  a  market.  This  fruit  might  he  distilled  so  as  to 
make  alcohol  for  light  and  power.  This  is  a  thing 
which'  the  fruit  growers  must  work  out  for  them¬ 
selves — without  waiting  for  the  government.  Along 
the  lake  counties  of  Western  New  York  there  is 
waste  fruit  enough  to  provide  all  needed  alcohol  for 
that  region.  Start  something  and  the  government 
will  fall  in. 
* 
To  he  perfectly  respectable  is  a  great  handicap  now¬ 
adays  especially  for  a  woman  if  she  aspires  to  he  among 
the  liberators  of  her  sex.  or  the  leader  of  any  social  or 
economic  or  political  movement  which  is  to  result  in 
the  immediate  redemption  of  her  race. 
11  AT  is  what  Dr.  Cha.s.  A.  Raymond  of  Union 
College  told  the  graduates  of  Vassal*  College. 
Very  likely  this  statement  shocked  some  of  these 
young  women,  hut  Dr.  Raymond  is  right,  if,  as  we 
believe,  lie  meant  by  “respectable”  walking  in  the 
narrow  walled  in  path  which  for  years  has  been 
marked  out.  for  women.  Women  have  too  long 
played  the  part  of  plaything,  drudge,  or  ornament 
upon  which  man  can  display  his  wealth.  In  pioneer 
days  woman  did  a  full  man's  part  of  sen-vice  to  the 
state.  In  these  gentler  days  she  should  still  do  her 
full  share  as  she  will  he  glad  to  do — with  brain  as 
well  as  hand.  It  is  just  the  same  as  with  men. 
Education  often  tends  to  make  the  student  too  “re¬ 
spectable,”  so  that  he  cannot  or  will  not  light  the 
real  battles  for  the  people.  If  he  have  any  mind  at 
all  such  a  man  must  see  that  the  forces  of  evil  are 
no  more  afraid  of  these  eminently  “respectable” 
people  than  they  are  of  a  watch  dog  chained  to  a 
post.  When  the  dog  or  the  man  slips  off  the  collar 
and  gets  down  Into  natural  buttle  the.  rogues  and 
the  robbers  know  II  is  time  to  get  out.  Our  women 
and  girls  will  understand  just  what  Dr.  Raymond 
means,  one  might  be  Highly  “respectable"  and  yet 
have  little  or  no  true  moral  power.  His  suggestion 
is  to  rise  above  “respectability” — not  to  fall  below  it. 
Brevities 
Canned  bananas  is  the  latest  delicacy. 
The  day-old  chick  business  breeds  some  troubles 
which  are  life-long. 
I'rodari.y  nine  times  in  10  when  you  find  a  man  who 
bus  largely  or  entirely  given  up  eating  meat  you  find 
one  who  was  for  some  reason  obliged  to  do  so  and  has 
become  a  philosopher! 
A  Dane  lias  invented  a  new  method  of  freezing  lisli 
for  storage  or  shipment.  Fish  frozen  in  air  or  in 
crushed  ice  is  not  durable  when  thawed  out.  The  new 
method  consists  in  freezing  in  a  salt  brine  cooled  to  a 
very  low  temperature.  Such  lisli  does  not  take  up  a 
salty  taste  and  "stands  up”  much  better  after  thawing. 
DtiEI.Nii  I  he  past  mouth  we  have  received  a  dozen 
very  important  questions,  mostly  of  a  personal  nature. 
They  were  all  unsigned,  and  we  have  no  way  of  iden¬ 
tifying  the  writers.  Of  course  they  cannot  be  an¬ 
swered.  We  should  like  to  know  why  some  of  our 
friends  persist  in  sending  these  unsigned  communica¬ 
tions;  some  of  them  of  real  importance. 
The  papers  state  that  a  prisoner  in  the  Oregon 
States  Prisou  lias  been  given  leave  of  absence  by  the 
Bovernor  so  that  lie  may  go  home  and  plant  bis  Spring 
crops.  The  story  is  that  this  prisoner  tried  to  kill  a 
man.  lie  was  convicted  and  put  in  prison.  He  has  a 
wife  and  eight  children,  and  has  a  mortgage  on  his 
homestead.  lie  stated  that  unless  he  could  go  home 
for  a  time  and  get  his  crops  planted,  Hu-  family  would 
have  nothing  for  the  Winter,  so  the  Governor  has  sent 
iii m  back  to  take  care  of  Jiis  farm# 
