1134 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BV8VTESS  FARMER'S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Home* 
EitabliaheeL  i8S0 
riiblbhrd  wrrkly  by  the  Rural  Fn bridling  Company.  533  West  80th  Street,  New  York 
Herbert  W.  COU.DPQ'WOOD.  President  and  Editor. 
Jons*  J.  IitLLO.s,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
Wm.  F.  Dillon,  Secretary.  >1rs.  E.  T.  Roylf.  Associate  Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION  :  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
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•'A  SQUARE  DEAL" 
NVe  believe  that- every  advertisement  in  this  paper  is  backed  by  a  respon¬ 
sible  pei-son.  We  use  every  possible  precaution  and  admit  the  advertising  of 
reliable  houses  only.  But  to  make  doubly  mine,  we  will  make  good  any  loss 
to  paid  KiiliHcrihvr'  mxtttined  by  trusting  Any  deliberate  swindler,  irrespon¬ 
sible  advertisers  or  misleading  advertisements  in  our  column*,  and  any 
aiiith  swindler  will  be  publicly  exposed  We  nrn  also  often  culled  upon 
to  adjust  difference*  or  irit»v*kets  between  our  mibarribcr*  and  honest, 
responsible  houses,  whether  advertisem  or  not.  Wc  willingly  u*c  our  good 
oilier*  to  this  end,  bui  suck  ca*ea  should  not  be  confused  witli  dishonest 
transaction*.  We  protect  tMhscribers  agaiast  rogues,  but  we  will  not  lie 
responsible  for  the  debts  of  honest  bankrupts  mt-.ettoned  by  the  courts. 
Notice  of  the  complaint  must,  bo  sent  to  ns  -n  iiliin  otic  irnmlh  of  the  time  of 
the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it,  you  should  mention  THE  Rural  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
MANY  of  our  readers  have  asked  about  the  law 
in  New  York  regarding  a  husband’s  interest 
in  a  wife’s  property.  Our  attention  is  called  to  a 
decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals, 
At  common  law  the  husband  was  entitled  to  the  en¬ 
tire  estate  of  his  deceased  wife ;  and  the  statutory 
enactments  have  not  taken  away  such  right  of  the  hus¬ 
band,  except  where  the  wife  leaves  descendants  surviv¬ 
ing  or  a  will  of  her  personal  property. 
Thus  when  a  wife  dies  without  surviving  chil¬ 
dren  and  without  leaving  a  will  her  entire  estate 
would  go  to  her  husband.  This  would  not  follow  if 
there  were  living  children,  or  if  the  wife  had  defin¬ 
itely  willed  her  property.  Most  of  the  eases  pre¬ 
sented  to  us  are  those  where  there  was  no  will. 
• 
TI1E  Iowa  Agricultural  College  will  establish  a 
course  in  killing  and  curing  meat  on  the  farm. 
There  will  he  a  $50,000  building  devoted  to  this 
teaching.  A  good  thing.  The  meat  business  has 
passed  into  the  hands  of  monopolies  so  that  the  old- 
time  country  slaughterhouses  have  disappeared. 
There  is  a  growing  demand  for  country  or  farm- 
cured  meats.  Parcel  post  has  helped  develop  such  a 
trade.  We  know  that  many  of  our  readers  are  sell¬ 
ing  canned  and  smoked  meat  to  good  advantage. 
There  are  many  cases  where  farmers  could  obtain 
more  for  their  meat  curing  at  home  rather  than  by 
selling  at  live  weight.  The  Iowa  College  has  al¬ 
ready  given  instructions  in  this  line,  and  this  com¬ 
plete  course  will  help. 
* 
THERE  have  been  many  statements  about  the 
earnings  of  farmers  as  compared  with  other 
workers.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  now  prints 
a  chart  which  puts  the  facts  right  before  the  eye  as 
follows : 
According  to  this  the  average  farmer  earns  $200 
in  cash  and  about  $400  worth  of  farm  supplies.  In 
cash  earnings  lie  is  far  behind  every  other  workman 
named  in  the  list.  Even  when  you  figure  his  "sup¬ 
plies”  at  full  value  he  falls  behind  all  other  classes 
of  workmen  except  two.  And  the  great  thought  is 
that  all  these  other  people  must  make  their  living 
by  handling,  directly  or  indirectly,  what  the  farmer 
produces !  And  it  all  comes  from  that  35-cent  dol¬ 
lar  which  the  learned  men  say  does  not  exist. 
* 
WHILE  in  some  localities  the  local  or  county 
fairs  prosper  it  must  be  admitted  that  many 
of  them  have  had  their  day.  The  managers  work 
hard,  organize  a  good  clean  show  and  do  their  best 
to  make  a  straight  appeal,  but  the  people  do  not 
come  as  they  formerly  did.  Where  25  years  ago  the 
grounds  were  crowded,  now  there  will  be  just  a 
thin  scattering  of  people.  What  is  wrong?  Noth¬ 
ing  in  particular  except  that  times  have  changed 
and  people  have  gone  after  amusement  in  other 
places.  In  the  old  days,  before  good  roads  and 
motor  cars  upset  human  social  relations  the  county 
fair  was  the  great  meeting  place  where  people  could 
make  yearly  visits  and  renew  old  friendships.  It 
was  this,  more  than  anything  else,  that  brought  the 
crowd  together.  Now  the  car  and  the  telephone 
have  changed  the  situation  and  people  meet  and 
mingle  easily  all  through  the  season.  In  some  places 
"Che  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
the  show  still  holds  its  own.  but  we  must  admit 
with  a  little  sadness,  that  the  old-fashioned  local 
fair  has  had  most  of  its  day. 
* 
TIITS  milk  situation  is  in  the  chum,  and  the  hut- 
tor  begins  to  come  ns  the  farmers  have  hold  of 
the  dasher.  You  remember  that  The  R.  N.-Y.  began 
early  to  stir  up  this  investigating  committee.  Other 
committees  have  played  with  the  subject,  dawdled 
along  for  political  effect,  had  a  good  time — and  ac¬ 
complished  nothing.  We  made  up  our  minds  that 
this  one  should  start  milking  at  the  word  “go!” 
and  the  only  people  to  give  that  word  were  the 
dairy  farmers.  So  we  invited  them  to  come  in  and 
take  a  hand,  and  the  way  they  came  was  a  wonder. 
This  interest  lias  made  itself  so  evident  that  the  in¬ 
vestigation  has  attracted  more  general  public  atten¬ 
tion  than  any  other  started  by  the  Legislature  in 
years.  We  make  this  point  in  order  to  let  our  farm¬ 
ers  see  what  they  can  do  to  arouse  the  public  when 
they  try. 
The  committee  has  demonstrated  that  the  greater 
proportion  of  the  milk  which  city  people  buy  is 
produced  at  a  loss.  It  represents  the  unpaid  labor 
of  men,  women  and  children.  We  knew  this  before, 
and  have  stated  it  for  years,  hut.  the  fact  did  not 
get  home  to  the  consumers  as  it  is  getting  now.  Up 
to  this  time  the  dealers  have  been  able  to  put  the 
blame  for  city  prices  upon  the  farmers.  They  can¬ 
not  do  it  again,  but  they  must  now  stand  for  the 
acid  test  on  their  own  figures  to  show  the  cost  of 
delivery.  The  investigators  are  now  coming  to  New 
York,  and  it  is  up  to  them  to  find  just  where  the 
money  is  dropped  between  the  city  table  and  the 
country  barn. 
There  is  sure  to  he  an  increase  of  price  to  the 
dairyman.  The  dealers  have  little  fight  left  in  them 
and  they  know  they  must  pay  more.  They  plan 
to  increase  the  price  to  the  consumer  and  then  pay 
part  of  that  increase  to  the  farmer.  It  would  he  a 
great  scheme  to  hold  the  consumer  up  for  a  cent 
more  per  quart  and  then  by  controlling  tests  and 
barn  inspections  to  figure  so  that  the  farmer  gets 
half  a  cent  increase!  The  truth  is  that  the  deal¬ 
ers  can  afford  to  pay  more  for  milk  without  increas¬ 
ing  their  price  at  all,  and  every  additional  cent  they 
get  out  of  the  consumer  should  go  directly  to  the 
dairymen. 
The  air  is  full  of  words  and  rumors.  We  hear  of 
new  investigations,  increased  cost  of  distribution, 
dairy  strikes  and  hot  statements  on  all  sides.  The 
thing  finally  comes  down  to  a  few  cold  and  solid 
facts.  Milk  will  he  scarce  this  Fall  and  Winter. 
The  corn  crop  is  short  and  feed  is  high.  When  any 
other  crop  like  wheat,  corn,  potatoes  or  hay  is 
short  the  price  rises.  It  must  he  the  same  with 
milk.  The  dealers  know  this,  and  for  the  first  time 
in  their  history  they  are  unable  to  put  up  any  bluff 
about  outside  supplies.  They  know  that  every  quart 
of  milk  will  he  needed,  and  that  the  farmers  have 
the  chance  to  say  "Our  price  is  so  much”  instead 
of  saying  as  they  have  done  for  20  years,  "What 
will  you  please  let  us  have?”  The  time  has  come 
when  the  farmers  can  secure  the  advantage  so  long 
denied  them.  It  can  only  he  done  in  one  way — by 
establishing,  here  in  New  York,  and  in  other  large 
cities,  a  fair,  open  market  for  milk  where  buyers 
can  obtain  their  supplies  at  a  price  determined  by 
supply  and  demand.  Such  a  market,  honestly  and 
economically  administered  is  the  only  solution  for 
the  peculiar  milk  problem  of  New  York.  That  mar¬ 
ket  should  have  the  backing  of  the  State  and  the 
milk  must  be  supplied  by  groups  of  organized 
dairymen  and  not  by  individuals.  That  is  the  only 
way  to  settle  this  milk  problem  permanently.  Any¬ 
thing  short  of  it  will  prove  a  makeshift,  and  a  re¬ 
lapse  to  the  present  utterly  indefensible  system.  This 
is  the  thing  which  every  dairyman  who  sends  milk 
to  New  York  should  work  for  as  a  fixed  and  defin¬ 
ite  policy. 
* 
THE  Binghamton  (N.  Y.)  Herald  gets  down  to 
business  when  it  says  that  testimony  before  the 
milk  committee  does  not  seem  to  come  from  the 
farmers  who  most  need  to  be  heard: 
We  note  that  this  or  that  prosperous  farmer  has 
spoken,  that  men  who  have  been  through  agricultural 
colleges  have  been  heard  and  that  cattle  breeders,  pro¬ 
ducers  of  certified  milk,  etc.,  have  been  called  upon. 
But  where  is  the  back  hill  farmer,  the  fellow  who  has 
the  real  troubles?  lie  is  shy  and  does  not.  like  to  ap¬ 
pear  in  public,  lie  is  not.  ready  of  speech  and  perhaps 
hesitates  to  go  before,  a  roomful  of  lawyers,  steno¬ 
graphers  and  newspaper  folk.  If  the  committee  could 
get  such  a  farmer,  and  his  wife,  to  tell  what  they 
know  and  give  expression  to  their  thoughts,  more  real 
light  would  be  shed  upon  the  situation,  we  believe, 
than  will  come  from  reams  of  testimony  of  men  who 
seem  to  be  better  able  to  testify  than  are  the  shy 
farmers. 
It  has  ever  been  so.  The  real  farmer — the  man 
with  the  real  problem — rarely  gets  a  chance  to 
•state  his  case  fairly.  There  is  usually  a  moutk- 
August  26,  1916. 
piece  for  him — self-appointed  or  made  to  order  by 
some  advocate  of  politics  or  education.  It  is  a  safe 
statement  that  nine  out  of  10  of  the  people  who  un¬ 
dertake  to  speak  for  the  plain  farmer  do  not  know 
his  problem  because  they  have  not  lived  his  life. 
Very  likely  our  agricultural  teachers  and  institute 
workers  will  deny  this,  hut  these  men  do  not  realize 
how  their  books  and  their  travel  and  their  regular 
salary  from  the  government  have  drawn  them  away 
from  the  life  which  the  common  farmer  must  live. 
Thus  we  have  gone  on  in  agricultural  development 
without  fair  representation  for  the  men  who  quietly 
and  patiently  and  humbly  feed  and  clothe  the  world. 
The  milk  situation  has  become  so  bad  that  the  prob¬ 
lem  of  the  hill  farmer  has  now  eaten  into  the  life  of 
the  prosperous  and  professional  brothers.  The  35- 
cent  dollar  has  painted  itself  all  over  the  dairy  dis¬ 
tricts — on  the  farms  and  in  the  towns  which  they 
support.  So  this  problem  is  getting  to  the  public 
as  never  before,  but  it  is  the  business  of  this  com¬ 
mittee  to  go  out  into  the  highways  and  byways  and 
compel  them  to  come  in  with  their  life  story. 
* 
YOU  often  hear  it  said  that  farmers  are  not  good 
business  men  !  Many  a  city  man  spends  a  short 
vacation  in  the  country  and  comes  hack  to  lay  down 
the  law  about  "business  efficiency.”  According  to 
him  all  these  farmers  need  is  a  business  system — all 
the  rest  would  follow  that.  But  what  about  the 
business  men  who  have  tried  farming?  Thousands 
of  them  have  bought,  land  and  started  farming  with 
abundant  capital,  scientific  advice  and  the  finest  of 
business  training!  How  many  of  them  make  their 
farms  pay  even  with  their  thorough  knowledge  of 
business?  If  they  were  forced  to  run  a  farm  with 
the  capital  and  equipment  within  the  reach  of  the 
average  farmer  they  would  go  bankrupt  in  less  than 
a  year.  Their  business  training  is  based  on  capital 
and  credit  always  within  reach,  and  as  they  well 
know,  even  with  this  advantage  they  fail  to  make  a 
farm  pay  a  profit  nine  times  in  10.  With  equal  ad¬ 
vantage  and  equipment  the  farmer  would  heat  them 
every  time.  Most,  of  the  city  business  men  who  have 
tried  farming  will  admit  this  rather  than  show  their 
farm  account  hooks,  and  their  experience  disposes 
of  the  old  sneer  that  the  farm  has  no  business 
methods. 
*  » 
THERE  is  a  man  in  Michigan  who  came  near  be¬ 
ing  arrested  for  sowing  Sweet  clover.  His 
name  is  Sam  Willis,  and  he  has  the  reputation  of 
knowing  more  about.  Sweet  clover  tlian  even  the 
bees  do.  Tlie  story  goes  that.  Mr.  Willis  lives  in  a 
neighborhood  where  farmers  are  very  much  afraid 
of  weeds,  and  when  he  started  the  Sweet  clover  it 
was  classed  as  a  plant  loafer  or  criminal.  So  the 
"authorities"  got  after  him,  and  threatened  him  with 
arrest  for  violating  the  weed  laws.  He  saved  him¬ 
self  by  calling  his  crop  “French  clover.”  That  name 
removed  the  curse  and  gave  the  clover  time  enough 
to  show  what  it  could  do.  Anyone  who  could  see 
the  crop  of  corn  or  any  other  crop  growing  where 
Sweet  clover  had  been  plowed  under  or  pastured 
off  would  quickly  forgive  the  “weed”  and  only  wish 
there  were  more  weeds  like  it  in  the  world,  Sam 
Willis  has  done  wonders  with  Sweet  clover  though 
he  sticks  to  the  more  fashionable  “French”  in  nam¬ 
ing  his  farm.  Call  it  by  any  name  you  will.  Sweet 
clover  is  a  wonderful  gift  to  the  farmer  who  will 
study  it  and  learn  how  it  may  be  used.  We  have 
come  to  believe  that  Joe  Wing  was  right  when  he 
said  that  lime  and  Sweet  clover  are  destined  to 
change  the  history  of  many  of  our  hill  farms  in 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  They  have  been  pass¬ 
ing  out  of  grain  growing  and  dairying  but  will  come 
hack  with  sheep,  through  the  use  of  lime  and  Sweet 
clover.  That  is  to  be  what  you  call  destiny.  As 
for  Sam  Willis  and  all  others  who  stay  by  a  de¬ 
spised  weed  until  they  make  it  popular  through  its 
good  qualities — good  luck  to  them — they  are  among 
the  salt  of  the  earth ! 
Brevities 
Two  farm  companions  which  never  should  squeal. 
One  is  the  hog,  the  other  wagon  wheel. 
The  New  York  Station  says  after  five  years’  test 
that  liine-sulphur  is  of  little  or  no  use  in  fighting  po¬ 
tato  blight. 
At  a  recent  funeral  in  a  New  England  town  there 
were  15  autos  and  two  horse  carriages!  The  horse  is 
even  losing  his  funeral  job. 
Our  practice  is  t < *  sow  Alsike  with  Red  clover  and 
Red-top  with  Timothy  grass  seed.  That  gives  a  com¬ 
bination  that  will  suit  a  sweet  or  a  sour  soil ! 
The  State  College  of  Pennsylvania  will  conduct 
State-wide  experiments  with  lime  to  show  just  what 
soils  need  liming  and  where  deposits  are  located. 
It  now  seems  to  be  agreed  that  one  pound  of  borax 
dissolved  in  12  gallons  of  water  is  the  best  solution  for 
sprinkling  over  manure  piles  to  prevent  breeding  by 
flies.  A  treutment  of  this  sort  lasts  several  days. 
