1448 
Ghe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FAB  NEE'S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  nnd  Suburban  Ilomcs 
KnlabUshed  i860 
Published  weekly  by  lli«  Rami  rublislilnR  Con>|inuy,  333  Went  30th  Street.  New  Tork 
Herbert  W.  Cownowoop,  Rresirlent  and  Editor. 
John  Dillon,  Treasurer  .'m  l  Oetteml  Stanasror. 
Wh.  F.  Dillon,  Secretary.  Slits.  E.  T.  Doyle,  Associate  Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION:  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
To  foreign  countries  in  the  Universal  Postal  Union,  $2.01.  equal  to  3«.  fid.,  or 
8JA  marks,  or  10!$  francs.  Kern  it  in  money  order,  express 
order,  personal  check  or  bank  draft. 
Entered  at  New  York  Tost  OtTlcc  as  Second  Class  Matter. 
Advertising  rates.  75  cents  per  aerate  line — 7  words.  References  required  for 
advertisers  unknown  to  us  ;  and  caali  must  aceompauy  transient  orders. 
”  A  SQUARE  DEAL” 
We  believe  that  every  advertisement  in  this  paper  is  backed  by  a  respon¬ 
sible  person.  Wo  use  every  possible  precaution  and  admit  the  advertising  of 
reliable  houses  only.  Rut  to  make  doubly  sure,  we  will  make  pood  any  loss 
to  fold  mh^e libers  sn.-iained  by  trusting  any  deliberate  sw  indler,  irrespon¬ 
sible  advertiser*  er  lnbleiulinir  ft'l V.itlflyitn  tit**  in  our  C'dlitnns*.  and  any 
such  swindler  wlU  be  jAibilely  exposed.  We  *»<>  also  r-fien  called  upon 
to  adjust  dltfcrcnce-s  or  mistakes  Pctv.ee n  our  tniltocrlbrrs  and  honest, 
responsible*  houses,  whether  advertisers  or  net.  Wo  wllllnply  nw  our  good 
o flier*;  to  this  end,  but  such  eases  should  not  be  confuivd  with  dishonest 
transactions.  We  protect  subtciibets  against  rcpuc.-.  but  we  will  not  be 
responsible  for  the  debt  a  of  honest  bankrupts  an  actioned  bv  tho  courts. 
Notice  of  the comphn  d  iroiHt  be  sent  to  as  ’•  HI  in  one  iM.tnlb  of  the  time  of 
the  transaction,  and  to  WeitlKy  it,  you  should  inetiUon  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
Good  Friends  Who  Stick 
No.  5. 
E  have  always  claimed  that  the  home  is  a 
stronger  unit  than  the  farm.  Friendship  is 
stronger  than  force.  The  heart  directs  the  hand. 
Appeals  to  reason  may  be  convincing,  but  appeals 
to  human  nature  usually  settle  the  world's  great 
problems.  We  feel  proud  of  this  letter: 
I  wonder  how  many  of  "our  family"  feel  the  same 
towards  The  R.  N.-Y.  as  I  do?  One  time  a  question 
arose  which  no  one  in  the  company  could  answer  anrl 
I  said,  "I  will  ask  my  brother  the  next  time  I  write 
to  him.”  All  looked  surprised,  knowing  I  had  neither 
brother  nor  sister.  They  were  much  amused  when  I 
•  said  my  big  brother's  name  was  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker.  One  sniffed  and  said  I  must  he  hard  up  for  a. 
brother  when  I  had  to  adopt  some  paper  and  printer’s 
ink.  But  that  is  where  they  made  a  big  mistake.  The 
R.  N.-Y.  is  not  just  paper  and  printer’s  ink ;  it  is  hu¬ 
man  sympathy,  affection,  understanding,  kindness,  pa¬ 
tience,  tolerance,  and  all  those  qualities  which  the  big 
brother  I  never  had,  but  always  longed  for,  would  have 
had.  MBS.  W.  D.  COOKE. 
Connecticut. 
We  would  rather  feel  that  our  people  can  say 
such  things  sincerely  than  be  elected  President 
of  the  United  States.  That  would  seem  to  us  an 
empty  honor  compared  with  the  office  of  “big 
brother.” 
* 
TIIE  new  poultry  contest  started  a  day  later  in 
the  week  than  last  year’s  and  we  have  been  un¬ 
able  to  obtain  the  first  report  in  time  for  publica¬ 
tion.  There  are  two  contests  this  year  in  which 
Tiie  R.  N.-Y.  is  personally  interested,  as  we  have 
entered  pens  in  each.  These  are  Connecticut  and 
New  Jersey.  Our  plan  for  the  present  is  to  altern¬ 
ate  the  reports  each  week,  thus  printing  the  Con¬ 
necticut  figures  one  week  and  those  from  New  Jer¬ 
sey  the  next. 
* 
THERE  must  be  good  “team  work”  among  farm¬ 
ers  in  New  York  this  Winter.  The  Legislature 
will  he  more  inclined  to  listen  to  the  farmers  than 
any  that  has  preceded  it.  We  have  a  chance  to  put 
through  a  good  program  if  we  can  only  get  together 
and  decide  upon  a  few  essential  things  to  begin 
with.  It  too  often  happens  that  many  special  laws 
are  demanded — each  backed  by  some  faction — but 
few,  if  any,  pushed  by  the  full  weight  of  public 
opinion.  The  thiug  to  do  is  to  get  together  now, 
find  out  what  is  needed,  agree  upon  a  few  strong 
things,  drop  the  non-essentials  and  get  busy.  That 
is  the  only  way  to  do  it,  and  we  open  our  columns 
to  free  discussion  of  farm  needs  in  legislation. 
* 
LAST  year  the  people  of  New  York  killed  a  pro¬ 
posed  new  constitution  because  they  felt  that 
as  a  whole  it  did  not  serve  the  needs  of  the  plain 
people,  but  gave  the  big  interests  toq  much  power. 
There  were,  however,  some  excellent  things  in  that 
constitution  which  should  be  made  into  law.  Among 
others  was  the  provision  for  keeping  an  accurate 
record  of  all  debates  in  the  Legislature  and  print¬ 
ing  this  journal  for  public  distribution.  As  it  is 
now  we  will  defy  anyone  to  show  the  true  record 
of  a  Senator  or  Representative.  We  are  repeatedly 
asked  what  some  member  did  or  said  with  reference 
to  a  particular  hill,  hut  there  is  no  way  of  making 
sure.  Words  spoken  in  the  Legislature  vanish  into 
thin  air,  and  there  is  no  way  of  pasting  them  right 
on  the  hack  of  the  speaker  when  he  comes  asking 
tor  reflection.  Such  talk  is  very  cheap.  Every  word 
these  politicians  say  should  be  taken  down  accurate¬ 
ly  and  printed  where  all  can  read.  We  shall  need 
all  this  badly  in  working  for  farmers’  lights. 
* 
MANY  negro  workmen  are  leaving  the  South, 
and  their  going  makes  trouble  for  farm  labor. 
The  great  advantage  which  the  South  possesses  as 
a  farming  section  lies  in  the  cheap  farm  labor  per¬ 
formed  by  the  negroes.  Should  they  leave  in  large 
numbers  the  cotton  crop  in  particular  would  suffer. 
These  negroes  are  going  to  the  Northern  States 
where,  Owing  to  the  stoppage  ot  immigration,  labor 
is  scarce  aud  well  paid.  If  the  war  continues  much 
longer  many  large  building  contracts  must  be 
abandoned,  or  make  use  of  such  labor  as  the  South 
can  provide.  Mississippi  is  working  through  her 
agricultural  college  to  keep  the  negroes  at  home  by 
teaching  better  farming.  It  seems  that  there  are 
several  negro  county  agents  in  that  State,  and  more 
will  he  appointed.  This  is  a  new  one  in  the  history 
of  Southern  farming.  The  best  place  for  the  South¬ 
ern  negro  is  in  the  South.  There  he  can  work  out 
his  future  better  than  anywhere  else.  We  believe 
it.  is  true,  however,  that  thousands  of  them  are  now 
headed  for  the  Northern  States.  The  only  way  to 
stop  them  is  along  the  line  which  Mississippi  has 
started.  Either  that  or  the  South  must  obtain  white 
laborers  from  Europe  when  the  war  ends. 
* 
AT  the  Farm  Bureau  meeting  in  Ithaca,  N.  Y., 
last  week  the  writer  suggested  a  new  organ¬ 
isation — a  Milk  Consumers’  League.  The  old  Apple 
Consumers’  League  made  baked  apples  fashionable. 
When  we  started,  hotels  and  restaurants  served 
oranges  and  bananas,  but  you  could  not  find  a  baked 
apple  on  the  card  even  with  a  microscope.  Thou¬ 
sands  of  men  went  about  the  country  calling  for 
apples  at  every  public  table.  As  a  result  the  hotel 
keepers  “got  wise,"  and  the  baked  apple  became  the 
great  American  dessert  fruit.  The  way  to  a  man’s 
stomach  lies  through  his  eye  and  brain  and  we  must, 
proceed  in  much  the  same  way  if  we  would  in¬ 
crease  the  consumption  of  milk.  Tf  we  are  to  pro¬ 
duce  two  quarts  of  milk  where  one  was  milked  be¬ 
fore  we  should  make  sure  of  the  sale  of  that  extra 
quart.  The  way  to  make  others  do  a  thing  is  to  go 
and  do  it  yourself.  Therefore  let's  start  the  Milk 
Consumers'  League.  It’s  easy — no  dues  and  a  pleas¬ 
ant  duty.  You  just  pledge  yourself  to  call  for  at 
least  one  glass  of  milk  whenever  you  eat  at  a  pub¬ 
lic  table.  The  habit  will  spread  as  it  did  with  the 
apple.  The  way  to  keep  the  cows  busy  is  to  empty 
the  milk  cans  at  hotels  and  restaurants. 
* 
AFTER  long  delay  and  uncertainty  it  seems  evi¬ 
dent,  as  The  It.  N.-Y.  goes  to  press,  that  Presi¬ 
dent.  Wilson  has  been  re-elected.  He  receives  a  ma¬ 
jority  in  the  Electoral  College,  a  plurality  in  the 
popular  vote  and  carries  a  large  majority  of  tiie 
States.  In  New  York  Governor  Whitman  was  re¬ 
elected  by  a  great  majority.  The  Legislature  is 
strongly  Republican — practically  all  the  members 
from  country  districts  pledged  to  marketing  reform. 
The  election  was  full  of  surprises.  The  old  issues 
and  sectional  alignments  seem  to  have  been  largely 
broken  up.  This  year  the  Atlantic  Coast  States  and 
the  Middle  West  largely  lined  up  against  the  old 
South  and  the  prairie  or  Western  States.  Iu  the 
Hast  the  farmers  seem  to  have  voted  much  as  they 
have  done  before.  In  the  West,  they  broke  away  and 
split  tilings.  For  example,  in  North  Dakota,  the 
farmers  gained  control  of  the  Republican  machine, 
and  elected  their  ticket,  while  at  the  same  time  they 
carried  the  State  for  President  Wilson.  Much  the 
same  happened  in  Kansas  and  California.  But  why 
should  Iowa  vote  heavily  for  Hughes,  while  Kansas, 
Missouri  and  nearby  agricultural  States  vote  for 
Wilson?  Why  should  Ohio  vote  for  Wilson,  while 
Michigan,  Indiana  and  Illinois  go  the  other  way? 
There  are  reasons  for  all  this,  and  they  are  of  great 
importance  to  farmers  in  particular.  Our  Own 
theory  is  that  Western  farmers  have  come  to  know 
that  such  questions  as  farm  credits,  marketing  and 
money  control  are  of  fur  greater  importance  than  the 
old  worn-out  issues.  At  any  rate  every  good  Amer¬ 
ican  will  accept  the  verdict  of  the  American  people. 
Let  us  all  remember  that  a  good  loser  is  the  logical 
candidate  for  sure  winner — next  time. 
* 
LET  us  make  it  one  long  Thanksgiving  for  the 
cows  this  Winter  by  feeding  them  a  "balanced 
ration.”  You  have  probably  seen  men  who  live 
through  tiie  Winter  very  largely  on  corn  bread,  fat 
jiork  and  potatoes.  All  three  of  these  foods  lack 
the  elements  which  make  bone  aud  muscle.  Such 
men  aud  women  put  on  fat  in  chunks,  but  they  are 
lifeless,  “tired”  aud  depressed.  Sometimes  they 
take  patent  medicine  to  help  out,  but  there  is  very 
little  hone  or  brain  food  in  that.  What  they  need 
is  food  to  balance  the  corn,  pork  and  potatoes.  They 
could  get  it  iu  beans,  peas,  cheese  or  lean  beef,  for 
those  contain  the  ash  and  protein  which  form  bone 
and  muscle.  By  eating  more  of  these  foods  the 
man  would  double  his  efficiency  and  save  one-third 
the  cost  of  his  ration.  The  same  way  with  a  cow. 
Too  many  farmers  are  feeding  heavily  of  grain  and 
hay,  but  the  cows  do  not  milk  as  they  should.  That 
is  because  there  is  not  enough  bone  and  muscle  food 
iu  their  ration.  There  are  many  ways  of  throwing 
November  18,  1916. 
money  away.  One  is  to  throw  it  down  a  cow’s 
throat  in  an  unbalanced  ration.  We  want  to  help 
save  this,  and  so  we  start  our  “Feeding  Problems” 
department  once  more.  We  can  help  you  balance 
the  ration.  The  advice  is  given  by  practical  people 
who  handle  cows  themselves,  and  know  what  to  say. 
You  will  receive  a  prompt  and  sensible  answer. 
* 
THE  Ohio  Experiment  Station  (Wooster)  has  is¬ 
sued  an  excellent  bulletin,  No.  302,  on  “Mar¬ 
keting  of  Woocllot  Products.”  This  contains  just 
the  information  about  timber  which  dozens  of  our 
readers  have  called  for.  This  bulletin  should  bo 
widely  distributed.  Among  other  very  sensible  sug¬ 
gestions  is  one  for  cooperative  selling.  Tn  most 
towns  each  farm  has  a  small  woodlot.  It  contains 
some  good  trees  but  not  enough  to  pay  for  buying  a 
sawing  outfit  or  making  a  regular  business  of  lum¬ 
bering.  Yet  taken  together  all  these  lots  will  pro¬ 
vide  a  large  amount  of  lumber.  If  farmers  could 
unite  and  sell  their  trees  together  they  could  op¬ 
erate  in  the  same  way  that  has  proved  so  useful 
with  milk,  grain,  fruit  or  wool.  There  ought  to  he 
a  chance  to  work  this  in  many  a  country  town. 
* 
I  desire  to  call  your  attention  to  one  subject  that 
seems  to  me  to  be  of  great  importance  to  the  farmers 
of  this  country,  and  which  I  fear  is  being  neglected  if 
not  overlooked.  That  is  the  probability  of  a  substan¬ 
tial  increase  of  freight  rates  of  all  farm  products.  I 
do  not  see  how  they  can  endure  any  further  increase  of 
freight.  Buying  ns  they  have  to,  at  retail,  all  machin¬ 
ery,  fertilizers,  feeds,  and  in  fact  everything  they  buy, 
and  selling  at  wholesale  all  they  have  to  sell  and  pay¬ 
ing  the  freight  ot  both  ends,  is  it  not  about  time  some 
one  started  a  movement  to  enter  a  vigorous  protest  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission? 
Massachusetts.  edmund  darker. 
T’R  information  is  that  the  railroads  are  pre¬ 
paring  to  demand  increased  rates  on  the  plea 
that  labor  costs  more  and  the  public  must  pay  for 
the  increase.  Tt  is  all  to  be  saddled  upon  the  pub¬ 
lic;  who  does  not  know  that  in  the  end  the  farmer 
pays  it?  On  the  same  theory  the  price  of  all  farm 
products  should  he  increased  because  feed,  fertilizer 
and  other  things  which  the  farmer  buys  have  risen 
in  price.  Did  anyone  ever  know  of  this  argument 
cutting  any  figure  in  the  price  of  farm  products? 
Nothing  but  war,  famine,  blight  or  crop  disaster 
increases  farm  prices.  The  farmers  should  put  up 
a  good  battle  before  they  permit  any  increase  of 
railroad  rates.  They  must  pay  it  in  the  end.  and 
they  receive  no  compensating  benefit.  Every  farm¬ 
ers’  organization  in  the  country  should  get  ready 
for  the  fight.  Let  us  put  it  on  record  that  if  the 
railroads  expect  the  public  to  pay  their  increased 
expenses — the  farmers  will  claim  the  same  right! 
* 
SOME  of  our  people  fear  that  the  big  Borden’s  ad¬ 
vertisements  on  the  milk  situation  will  dis¬ 
courage  or  deceive  tiie  farmers.  They  need  not 
worry.  Men  who  stood  out  against  all  the  tricks 
and  blandishments  of  the  distributors  and  held  the 
milk  hack  are  not  fooled  by  such  statements.  One 
of  our  readers  sends  us  this  big  advertisement  with 
the  following  extract  marked: 
Even  with  our  close  acquaintance  with  the  industry 
ns  a  whole,  we  have  positive  knowledge  of  our  own 
business  only  and  know  very  little  of  the  real  condi¬ 
tions  which  confront  the  dairymen. 
Our  render  says  the  Borden’s  have  at  least  six 
plants  in  New  York  State  where  they  are  producing 
milk.  lie  says  these  farms  do  not  pay  expenses, 
allowing  the  same  rate  they  pay  for  similar  milk 
when  produced  by  fax'mers.  We  would  like  to  have 
the  cost  of  producing  a  quart  of  milk  in  these  Bor¬ 
den’s  barns.  Most  of  the  distributors  have  Mamed 
the  farmers  for  not  using  business  methods  in  milk 
production!  The  Borden’s  ought  to  he  considered 
good  business  men,  yet  if  they  sold  the  milk  which 
they  produce  on  their  own  farms  for  what  they  pay 
tc-  farmers  they  would  do  business  at  a  loss. 
Brevities 
Why  not  be  thankful  for  the  privilege  of  giving 
thunks? 
No  matter  whether  it  is  turkey  or  just  plain  turnip, 
cat  it  with  a  thankful  heart. 
Even  if  your  hank  account  is  short  you  can  bank 
up  the  house  aud  keep  out  the  wiud. 
Virginia  is  the  greatest  soapstone  State — producing 
20  times  ;is  much  as  the  other  four  soapstone  States. 
The  man  wlm  buys  a  dairy  feed  which  gives  him  only 
hulk — will  never  have  a  milk  machine — he  only  has  a 
hulk. 
The  Ohio  Station  finds  that  clover  equals  Alfalfa  for 
feeding  to  lambs.  There  are  plenty  of  sections  where  Al- 
sike  clover  is  more  useful  than  Alfalfa. 
Now  we  are  told  that  the  chicken  mite  depends  ex¬ 
clusively  upon  the  fowl  for  its  food  and  will  not  de¬ 
velop  in  till h.  Crude  petroleum  kills  it. 
In  Wisconsin  they  are  organizing  what  they  call  “a 
pound-a-day  club.”  This  refers  to  cows  that  have  made 
300  pounds  or  more  of  butter  iu  one  year  by  actual 
test. 
