1398 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
TJTE  BUSINESS  FARMER'S  FAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  mid  Subnrlinn  Home* 
Establish s/J  ls.:a 
Published  weekly  by  the  Rural  Publishing-  Compiinr,  Run  West  8OII1  Street,  New  York 
IlKRBKitT  W.  CotMWpyooD,  President  tind  Editor. 
John  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager. 
Wsi.  F.  Dili/ in.  Secretary.  Mas.  E.  X.  Roylk.  Associate  Editor. 
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"A  SQUARE  DEAL” 
We  believe  that  every  advertisement  in  this  paper  is  backed  by  a  respon¬ 
sible  person.  We  use  every  possible  precaution  and  admit  the  advertising  of 
reliable  bouses  only.  Rut  to  make  doutdy  sure,  wo  will  make  good  any  Toss 
to  paid  subscribers  sustained  by  trusting  any  dClilMrate  awindii  r,  Irrespon¬ 
sible  advertisers  or  misleading  ltd veTtiis menta  in  our  columns,  and  any 
such  r, windier  util  he  publicly  exposed.  We  are  aim  often  culled  upon 
to  adjust  dllfercuecs  or  mistake*  between  our  m  hue  fibers  and  honest, 
responsible  houses,  whether  advortlrerk  or  Dot.  We  willingly  me  our  good 
offices  to  thla  end.  but  such  cases  should  not  bo  confuted  with  dishonest 
transactions.  We  protect  subscriber*  against  rogure.  but  we  will  not  be 
responsible  for  the  debts  of  hoimst  bank ru its  tanoljoned  by  the  courts, 
Notice  of  the  complaint  must  be  sent  to  us  within  ope  iponlh  of  the  time  or 
the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it,  you  should  mention  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
Good  Friends  Who  Stick 
No.  3. 
ITE  It.  N.-Y.  claims  to  be  “a  journal  for  the 
suburban  and  country  home.”  That  gives  a 
broad  opportunity.  We  do  not.  realize  bow  broad  it 
is  until  we  get  letters  like  this  one: 
I  am  sorry  I  didu’t.  read  your  paper  years  ago.  It 
is  the  best  English-written  paper  in  the  U.  S.  A.  It 
is  not  only  a  good  teacher  in  farming.  It  helps  a  for¬ 
eigner  wonderfully  to  master  the  English  language,  be¬ 
cause  it  is  so  plainly  written  and  so  easily  understood, 
and  I  would  gladly  pay  five  dollars  a  year  if  1  should 
have  to  miss  it  otherwise.  With  best  wishes  of  your 
prosperity.  o.  oberhammer. 
Mamaropeck,  N.  Y. 
The  It.  N.-Y.  does  not  pretend  to  be  any  master 
of  language.  We  simply  know  bow  plain  people 
talk,  and  we  try  to  put  the  best  thought  into  com¬ 
mon  language.  We  want  to  use  such  words  that 
no  one  will  have  to  guess  in  order  to  know  what  we 
mean. 
* 
THE  Farm  Bureau  men  in  New  York  State  did 
good  work  during  the  milk  battle.  They  helped 
organize  and  helped  keep  up  the  spirit  of  farmers. 
The  work  they  did  in  this  way  has  done  much  to 
make  farmers  see  the  possibilities  in  this  bureau 
work. 
* 
ON  page  1396  the  statement  is  made  that  during 
the  next  five  years  the  great,  trade  in  pasteuriz¬ 
ing  outfits  and  dairy  implements  generally  will  be 
direct  with  farmers  and  their  organizations.  We 
believe  this  is  right.  The  battle  which  our  farm¬ 
ers  have  been  through  has  made  it  clear  that  their 
only  hope  lies  in  cooperative  work.  Fourteen  days 
of  fight  did  more  than  40  years  of  talk  to  make  this 
thought  sure.  Farmers  will  now  invest  in  outfits 
to  handle  the  milk  just  as  nations  invest  in  muni¬ 
tions  in.  order  to  be  prepared. 
* 
ON  page  1229  O.  W.  Mapes  looked  ahead  14  years 
and  pictured  what  he  thought  would  be  doiug 
in  the  retail  milk  business  of  New  York.  He  had 
many  depots  scattered  about,  the  city  where  pure 
milk  could  be  bought.  People  came  and  got  it  in 
glasses  and  pails  as  they  did  30  years  ago.  We 
understand  the  distributors  hooted  at  this  idea. 
That  was  "before  the  farmers  stood  up  and  fought 
back.  Wonderful — how  that  “strike”  opened  their 
eyes.  Borden’s  now  offers  grade  B  milk  for  eight 
cents  a  quart  to  those  who  “bring  their  own  con¬ 
tainer  !”  They  are  getting  wise,  but  it  is  the  form 
c.f  wisdom  which  comes  out  of  a  club. 
* 
DU.  LIPMAN  explains  his  plan  for  making  acid 
phosphate  in  the  barnyard  on  page  13SS.  The 
chemists  will  say  there  is  nothing  new  about  this, 
and  they  may  question  the  practical  value  of  the 
plan.  It  will  not  cost  very  much  to  try  it,  and  we 
hope  that  hundreds  of  farmers  will  join  the  experi¬ 
menters.  It  looks  easy.  YTou  put  sulphur  and 
ground  phosphate  rock  into  a  compost  heap — mostly 
good  soil — and  then  walk  off  and  let  nature  do  the 
rest.  Personally,  we  think  this  plan  of  making  acid 
phosphate  will  be  developed  through  many  trials  by 
chemists  and  farmers.  That  is  as  far  as  anyone  can 
safely  go  now  in  discussing  it.  Try  it  out. 
* 
BOTH  Governor  Whitman  and  Judge  Samuel 
Seabury  are  going  about  the  State  talking  for 
the  Foods  and  Markets  Department.  They  vie  with 
each  other  in  expressing  their  belief  in  such  a  de- 
partment  and  what  they  will  do  for  it  if  elected. 
With  very  few  exceptions,  every  candidate  for  the 
Legislature  iu  the  rural  counties  has  also  promised 
support.  We  hold  these  promises  in  black  and 
white.  There  are  so  many  of  them  that  we  cannot 
possibly  print  them  all.  Thus  the  future  of  the 
RURAL.  NEW-YORKER 
Department  is  assured.  But  all  this  means  a  bigger 
and  broader  thing,  for  at  last  a  genuine,  definite 
farm  issue  has  come  to  the  front  in  New  York 
State,  The  politicians  will  never  be  able  to  get  rid 
of  it.  Just  watch  it.  grow  and  eat  up  a  lot  of  the 
old  scarecrow  issues  which  we  have  foolishly  fought 
ever  for  25  years! 
* 
LAST  Winter  we  thought  the  American  Agricul¬ 
turist  had  struck  the  limit  of  stupidity  in  the 
way  it  attacked  the  New  York  State  Agricultural 
Society  and  Commissioner  Dillon.  The  utter  mean¬ 
ness  of  the  attack  was  bad  enough,  but  the  stupid 
insult  to  the  intelligence  of  farmers  seemed  to  us 
the  limit.  We  were  wrong — stupidity,  like  every¬ 
thing  else,  is  progressive — and  this  milk  battle  has 
given  the  American  Agriculturist  a  chance  to  reach 
even  lower  depths.  It  now  seems  that  Dr.  C.  W. 
Burkett  and  President  Brill  were  responsible  for 
the  attempted  settlement  “over  the  heads”  of  Mr. 
Dillon  and  the  executive  committee.  They  under¬ 
took  to  put  over  a  scheme  which  would  have 
wrecked  the  Dairymen’s  League  and  left  the  situa¬ 
tion  worse  than  it  ever  was  before.  The  farmers, 
who  had  been  fighting  day  after  day  against  great 
odds,  would  have  lost  faith  in  their  leaders  and 
faith  in  humanity  if  Burkett  and  Brill  could  have 
put  through  their  scheme.  On  the  morning  after 
Brill  announced  this  action,  the  Dairymen's  T league 
was  whipped  by  Burkett  and  Brill — stabbed  by  its 
so-called  fidends.  There  was  just  one  desperate, 
masterly  thing  to  do — get  together  and  fire  Brill. 
Weak  men  would  have  faltered,  accepted  the  sit¬ 
uation,  and  tried  to  explain  to  the  farmers  why 
they  quit  rather  than  fought.  These  men,  who  had 
been  put  here  with  orders  to  fight,  never  faltered. 
They  got  the  executive  committee  together  and 
promptly  and  boldly  repudiated  Brill  and  took  all 
power  out  of  his  hands.  That  bold  action  saved  the 
situation.  It  took  all  the  fight  out  of  the  distribu¬ 
tors.  They  recognized  the  master  hand,  and  came 
to  eat  out  of  it  by  promptly  agreeing  to  terms.  That 
was  the  end  of  Brill,  but  unfortunately  this  com¬ 
mittee  could  not  fire  Burkett  in  the  same  way.  He 
helped  put  over  a  plan  which  would  have  ruined 
the  League  and  thrown  away  all  that  we  have  been 
working  for  during  the  past  10  years.  We  cannot 
understand  the  motive  which  inspired  Brill,  but 
Burkett’s  case  is  entirely  clear.  He  must  have 
known  how  farmers  felt  and  what  they  demanded, 
and  anyone  capable  of  realizing  that  should  be  able 
to  see  the  ruinous  results  of  the  compromise  he 
nearly  put  over.  Yet,  when  every  fanner  in  the 
League  clearly  understands  the  situation,  Burkett 
impudently  argues  for  his  rejected  plan  and  tries 
to  make  it  appear  that  it  was  the  same  as  the  one 
finally  accepted.  Everybody  now  sees  that  the 
“surplus”  clause  in  Burkett  and  Biill’s  plan  would 
have  given  the  distributors  all  the  surplus  and  the 
farmers  all  the  deficits!  Yet  Burkett  paints  Brill 
as  the  wise  patriot,  while  farmers  are  calling 
him  “the  Benedict  Arnold  of  the  Dairymen’s 
League!”  Are  we  not  justified  in  saying  that  stu¬ 
pidity  is  progressive? 
* 
“It  was  a  great,  great  fight” 
ITE  more  I  think  of  what  has  been  done  through 
the  cooperation  of  Mr.  Dillon,  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Dairymen’s  League,  and  the  dairy 
farmers  supplying  New  York,  the  more  I  think  it 
is  one  of  the  greatest  acts  of  freedom  accomplished, 
at  least  on  behalf  of  the  farmer,  since  the  Declara¬ 
tion  of  Independence  was  written.  The  country  gen¬ 
erally  can  talk  of  “back  to  the  farm”  and  can  write 
cf  the  farmer  being  the  “backbone  of  the  country” 
but  when  that  same  backbone  has  to  work  about 
three  times  as  hard  as,  say,  the  fingers  or  the  brain 
of  the  same  body  politic,  to  keep  as  well  nourished 
as  they,  then  there  is  “something  rotten  in  Den¬ 
mark,”  and  all  the  talk  and  all  the  writing  in  the 
world  will  not.  sot  it  right,  Mr.  Dillon  and  the 
executive  committee,  had  they  been  ever  so  wise, 
could  not  have  done  this  thing  alone.  It  was  be¬ 
cause  every  crossroads  farmer  stuck,  and  stuck  till 
the  thing  was  done,  that  the  great  act  was  accom¬ 
plished.  And  this  same  back-country  farmer  ought 
to  realize  this,  and  to  realize  that  every  farmer  has 
his  important  place  in  the  battle-line.  We  must  have 
leaders,  and  we  must  just  as  truly  have  workers 
who  will  stick.  God  and  the  politicians  help  those 
who  help  themselves,  but  it  is  only  after  we  have 
begun  to  help  ourselves  that  God  and  the  politicians 
take  hold.  The  battle  has  only  just  begun.  Don’t 
let  us  get  cocky  and  sit  back  and  pat  ourselves. 
Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  freedom.  And  if 
we  are  going  to  keep  this  country  healthy  and  free 
politically  and  morally,  and  if  we  are  going  to  keep 
the  backbone  as  .stiff  and  as  helpful  to  the  rest  of 
November  4.  1910. 
the  body  as  a  backbone  ought  to  be,  we  must  enlist 
in  this  cooperative  fight  for  life,  and  be  vigilant 
and  helpful  always.  It  is  a  glorious  battle,  and 
worthy  of  the  best  in  any  man.  And  if  we  can  keep 
it  up,  and  stick  and  stick  and  stick,  I  am  sure  that 
our  leaders  can  do  anything  honorable  we  ask  of 
them,  and  we  will  then  have  heard  the  last  of  this 
talk  of  our  uplifters  of  “back  to  the  farm”  and  of 
“keep  the  boys  on  the  farm.”  There  will  then  be  no 
need  of  this  talk.  Yes,  this  has  been  a  great,  great 
fight  and  any  man  ought  to  he  forever  proud  that 
be  helped  a  hit  in  it.  millard  davis. 
* 
Acxjept  congratulations  on  the  milk  victory.  The 
98-acre  farm  my  father  left  me  up  in  Delaware  Coun¬ 
ty,  New  York,  looks  better  to  me,  and  my  ambition  to 
return  to  it  and  live  for  the  balance  of  my  life  seems 
more  likely  to  be  realized.  c.  w.  BARTLETT. 
Maryland. 
TIITS  is  but  one  of  many  letters  from  men  who 
see  the  true  significance  of  the  outcome  of  this 
battle  over  milk  prices.  The  increased  price  will 
give  our  dairymen  nearly  $5,000,000  more  than  the 
old  price  would  have  brought,  yet  that  is  the  small¬ 
est  part  of  the  outcome.  The  farmers  now  see  in¬ 
creased  possibilities  from  their  farms,  a  fairer 
chance  for  their  families,  and  a  better  standing  for 
their  business.  This  gives  them  ambition,  faith  and 
business  courage,  which  are  the  essentials  of  success. 
Take  five  cents  away  from  the  35-cent  dollar  and 
you  add  to  misery,  debt  and  discouragement.  You 
cut  down  the  price  of  all  farm  property  and  benefit 
no  interests  which  are  benevolent,  progressive  or 
patriotic.  Add  five  cents  to  the  35-cent  dollar,  and 
you  brighten  every  farm  home,  encourage  every 
farmer,  and  increase  the  price  of  farm  laud  on  an 
average  of  20  per  cent.  The  future  of  this  nation 
depends  largely  upon  whether  this  35-cent  dollar 
is  clipped  or  added  to. 
* 
I  rttall  want  three  barrels  of  New  York  apples,  one 
each  of  Spys,  Greenings  and  Baldwins,  and  I  want  to 
know  from  whom  to  order  them.  My  reason  for  writ¬ 
ing  to  you  is  that  I  want  good  apples.  Each  year  the 
local  grocers  have  some  New  York  apples  which  are 
generally  good  enough,  but  invariably  are  small  and 
usually  smaller  in  the  middle  of  the  barrel  than  at  the 
ends.  Last  year  I  did  not  buy  any,  but  the  year  be¬ 
fore  I  paid  $3  per  barrel  delivered  at  my  house.  I 
would  prefer  to  buy  direct  from  the  farmer,  ns  he  ought 
to  have  the  money  rather  than  the  middlemen,  but  the 
two  points  are,  who  is  the  farmer,  and  is  he  reliable? 
I  want  a  man  who  will  sell  me  good  apples,  charge  me 
a  fair  price  for  them,  and  when  T  get  the  apples  T  want 
them  to  be  just  what  be  said  they  would  be.  It  appears 
to  me  that  a  man  whom  you  recommend  ought  to  be  re¬ 
liable,  and  if  he  is  not,  the  complaint  can  be  settled 
through  you.  F.  M.  F. 
Iowa. 
VERY  year  we  have  letters  like  this  one.  All 
over  the  country  there  are  people  who  know 
that  our  Eastern  apples,  at  their  best,  are  very  su¬ 
perior.  These  people  want  the  best,  but  they  have 
been  fooled  time  after  time  in  buying  apples  on  the 
regular  market  branded  “New  York.”  There  is  no 
use  denying  that  statement,  because  there  are  some 
packers  and  shippers  who  act  as  if  they  had  started 
out  deliberately  to  poison  the  reputation  of  New 
York  apples.  So  this  man  wants  to  deal  dii’ect  with 
some  honest  apple  grower  who  will  give  him  a 
square  deal.  “Who  is  the  farmer ?  Is  he  reliable?” 
It  gets  down  to  these  two  points  in  a  deal  of  this 
sort.  We  have  no  doubt  there  are  hundreds,  if  not. 
thousands,  of  people  who  would  like  to  buy  high- 
class  fruit  from  a  high-class  fruit,  grower.  The  trou¬ 
ble  is  that  most  of  such  men  cannot  raise  fruit  fast 
enough  to  supply  their  present  customers. .  “Who  is 
the  farmer?” 
Brevities 
Little  if  any  evidence  yet  that  salt  will  take  the 
place  of  potash  in  a  potato  fertilizer. 
Tiie  trappers  of  this  country  earned  $20,000,000  last 
year.  That  is  why  fur  farming  is  having  a  “boom.” 
Time  to  put  the  turkey  under  the  coop  for  Thanks¬ 
giving. 
We  vote  for  a  huge  increase  of  the  35-cent  dollar 
and  hope  it  will  soon  come ! 
Good  cottonseed  will  be  scarce  iu  the  South  next 
Spring.  Farmers  are  advised  to  save  as  they  would 
seed  corn. 
I xr  Minnesota  they  found  that  the  average  farm  horse 
cost,  for  his  keeping,  $85  per  year.  lie  only  averaged 
three  hours  labor  for  each  working  day.  What  about 
your  horses? 
In  South  Dakota,  according  to  President  Perisho  of 
the  Agricultural  College,  the  farmers  pay  75  per  cent, 
of  the  taxes.  They  have  produced  95  per  cent,  of  the 
new  wealth  of  the  State.  They  now  hold  more  than 
90  per  cent,  of  bank  deposits. 
The  New  York  Sun  says  it  is  criminal  negligence 
to  drink  unpasteurized  milk!  Something  like  300,000 
children  on  farms  which  supply  New  York  drink  un¬ 
cooked  milk  and  would  be  hard  to  beat  for  health.  The 
“Redheads”  never  have  cooked  milk  ! 
“Systems  of  Renting  Truck  Farms  in  Southwestern 
New  Jersey”  is  the  title  of  Farmers’  Bulletin  No.  745, 
issued  by  the  TJ.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.  It 
makes  a  comparative  analysis  of  systems  of  renting  in 
vogue. 
