1500 
The  Rural  New-Yorker 
THE  BUSINESS  FARMER'S  PAPER 
A  National  Weekly  Journal  for  Country  and  Suburban  Homes 
Established  isso 
Published  weekly  hy  the.  Hursl  Publishing  Company,  838  West  80th  Street.  Kew  fork 
Herbert  W.  Colukotood,  President  and  Editor. 
Jolts  J.  Dillon,  Treasurer  and  General  Manturer. 
Wm.  F.  Dillon,  Secretary.  Mrs.  E.  T.  Royle,  As-soeiate  Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION  ?  ONE  DOLLAR  A  YEAR 
To  foreign  countries  in  the  Universal  Postal  Union.  $2,01.  equal  to  8s.  6d.,  or 
Mi  marks,  or  101*  francs.  Remit  in  money  order,  express 
order,  personal  cheek  or  bank  draft. 
Entered  at  New  York  Post  Office  as  Second  Class  Matter. 
Advertising  rates,  75  cents  per  agate  lino — 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  person.  We  use  every  possible  precaution  and  admit  the  advertising  of 
reliable  houses  only.  Bui  to  make  doubly  sure,  will  m.ykc  g<i<al  any  loss 
to  paid  subscriber*  sustained  by  trusting  any  deliberate  ev>  inaler,  irrespon¬ 
sible  advertiser*  or  misleading  adrerlUements  In  our  columns,  and  any 
such  swindler  will  be  publicly  expowd.  We  are  also  often  called  upon 
to  adjust  ditferencsu  or  mistakt*  between  oar  solrtcrtbors  oiwl  honest, 
responsible  hotinea,  whether  advertiser*  or  not.  We  n-llllngly  use.  on.  good 
offices  to  this  end,  but  ruch  casso  should  not  bo  confuscrl  wlth  dishonest 
transactions  We  protect  suhscrlbow  si-ain-U  rogues,  but  we  will  not  be 
responsible  for  the  debts  of  honest  bankrupt-'!  avictioncd  hT  tbe  courts. 
Notice  of  the  Cotiiploltit  must  be  sent,  io  us  within  one  month  or  tlie  tune  of 
the  transaction,  and  to  identify  it.  you  should  mention  The  Rural  New- 
Yorker  when  writing  the  advertiser. 
Good  Friends  Who  Stick 
No.  t 
UR  friends  do  more  than  talk  in  order  to  show 
appreciation.  They  use  deeds  as  well  as  words. 
Here  is  one  of  them : 
The  cut  on  the  front  cover  of  your  issue  of  Septem¬ 
ber  ;i()th  deserves  favorable  mention.  I  believe,  so  far 
as  it  is  practical  to  do  so,  that  the  farmers  would  find 
it  to  their  advantage  in  advancing  the  prestige  of  a 
journal,  which  so  ably  advances  their  cause  in  more 
ways  than  one,  by  buying  only  from  advertisers  in  the 
columns  of  that  journal.  The  writer  recently  placed 
an  order  for  a  tractor  which  could  be  traced  primarily 
to  the  advertisement,  in  The  R.  N.-Y.  I  brought  this 
to  the  attention  of  the  manufacturer  and  agent  at  the 
time  I  ordered.  K.  Arnold  barnes. 
Round  Lake,  N.  Y. 
The  picture  showed  a  farmer  and  an  agent.  The 
farmer  pointed  to  a  sign  which  read :  “7  buy  from 
Rural  New-Yorker  advertisers  only.” 
* 
THERE  is  great  complaint  this  year  like  the 
following : 
Yesterday  I  received  a  barrel  of  sweet  potatoes  from 
Maryland.  The  top  of  the  barrel  had  been  covered 
with  burlap,  and  had  been  ripped  open  and  about  half 
a  bushel  removed.  Some  time  ago  in  this  city,  I  saw 
a  basket  of  fruit  that  had  been  covered  with  doth  and 
tied,  and  it  also  was  ripped  open  and  the  contents  ap¬ 
propriated  by  the  expressman  and  the  shipping  clerks 
at  tbe  factory  where  the  wagon  was  making'  a  6top. 
Farmers  should  not  ship  anything  in  a  container  that 
can  be  ripped  or  torn  open. 
It  is  hard  to  be  held  up  on  high  rates  and  then 
robbed  in  addition.  We  see  no  remedy  except  giv¬ 
ing  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  new  pow¬ 
ers.  This  will  never  be  done  until  the  people  de¬ 
mand  it. 
* 
ON  page  1401  we  begin  a  series  of  short  articles 
on  “What  Ailed  the  Western  States?’-  These 
articles  are  based  on  statements  made  to  ns  by 
Western  farmers.  There  is  no  attempt  to  argue  or 
stir  tip  political  issues.  We  shall  just  tell  you 
calmly  and  simply,  why  those  Western  farmers 
voted  as  they  did.  We  think  it  is  important  for  our 
Eastern  farmers  to  know  about  this.  Many  of  them 
will  not  agree  with  these  Western  men,  but  we 
must  all  accept  the  verdict  and  try  to  understand 
what  it  means.  As  we  study  it  we  cannot  escape 
the  conviction  that  present  party  lines  are  to  be 
smashed  in  pieces,  and  that  the  coming  great  issues 
are  to  concern  agriculture. 
* 
WILL  you  read  the  following  carefully  and  tell 
us  what  you  think  of  it?  It  seems  to  be  a 
trait  of  human  nature  for  man  to  get  all  he  can  and 
then  pass  as  little  as  possible  of  his  accumulation 
on  to  others.  Many  a  man  starts  out  poor  and 
friendless  but  with  strong  ambition.  As  he  labors 
and  denies  himself  he  makes  a  vow  that  if  he  can 
only  win  competence  and  power  he  will  do  great 
things  at  helping  the  poor  and  needy.  He  wins  out 
and  becomes  independent.  Does  he  stop  and  spend 
the  rest  of  his  life  helping  others  do  the  same? 
As  a  rule  he  does  not,  but  works  on  to  make  bis 
modest  competence  into  wealth  and  power.  Very 
likely  you  know  of  exceptions,  but  they  are  rare. 
Such  a  man  must  know  that  his  success  came  to 
him  from  society,  but  he  delays  his  obligation  until 
lie  becomes  wealthy,  and  when  money  dominates  a 
man  the  more  he  gets  the  further  he  thinks  he  is 
from  being  rich.  We  want  you  to  tell  us  why  so 
many  “self-made”  men  carry  a  self-made  charity 
which  is  narrow  as  a  board !  Then  here  is  another. 
A  man  acquires  an  education  through  hard  work 
and  help  from  the  State.  Why  does  he  fail  to 
pass  that  education  along  down  unless  he  is  well 
paid  for  doing  so?  When  a  man  lias  an  agricultural 
education  given  him  by  the  State  he  is  as  much 
under  an  obligation  to  use  it  for  public  service  as 
the  soldier  or  sailor  is  under  obligation  to  fight. 
Why  does  not  the  man  who  works  for  an  agrieul- 
E6e  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
tural  education  spend  more  time  freely  giviug  it  to 
others  who  have  not  had  his  advantages?  This  is 
just  one  of  those  things  intended  to  start  you  at 
thinking.  It  is  the  foundation  thought  of  modem 
society.  What  do  you  know  about  it? 
* 
MEMBERS  of  the  next  New  York  Legislature 
are  promising  great  things  for  the  people. 
The  political  earthquake  out  West  has  made  them 
realise  that  the  power  which  blew  things  up  was 
developed  out  of  the  discontent  and  distrust  of 
farmers.  There  were  many  causes  for  the  result, 
but  the  most  potent  one  was  tlie  expansive  power 
of  our  old  friend  the  35-eent  dollar  in  the  heads  of 
Western  farmers.  All  over  the  country  governors 
and  legislatures  will  get  the  idea.  One  needed 
thing  in  New  York  is  a  law  compelling  the  Legis¬ 
lature  to  keep  a  complete  printed  journal  of  its 
proceedings.  It  should  be  so  that  the  public  may 
know,  for  all  time,  just  what  the  men  they  send  to 
the  Legislature  say  and  do.  As  it  is  now,  words 
spoken  in  debate  escape  like  smoke  when  they  should 
be  burned  into  the  speaker’s  record.  One  of  the  first 
things  in  oar  farmer’s  program  should  be  compelling 
the  Legislature  to  record  its  story  in  print.  Do  not 
wait  for  a  new  constitution — make  them  do  it  them¬ 
selves  ! 
* 
THE  Hope  Farm  man  claims  that  there  are  town 
and  city  families  which  spend  more  for  candy 
than  they  do  for  milk.  We  have  found  a  number  of 
such.  High-priced  candy  is  kept  before  the  children 
most  of  the  time,  while  not  over  one  quart,  of  milk 
is  supplied  for  five  persons!  Such  people  actually 
think  candy  is  a  food  while  milk  is  a  luxury !  Their 
ideas  about  candy  have  been  formed  by  various 
professors  with  double-jointed  titles  who  have  been 
paid  to  use  their  reputation  as  a  hook  and  bait  it 
with  candy.  Other  scientists  and  “food  experts” 
frighten  the  public  with  terrible  stories  about  the 
dangers  which  lurk  in  milk.  Thus  these  people  buy 
candy  which  contains  no  muscle  or  bone  food  at  all 
and  shy  at  milk,  which  is  the  only  single  perfect 
food  there  is!  Many  children  are — like  our  soils — • 
starved  of  lime,  and  milk  contains  more  available 
lime  than  any  other  food.  Now  we  have  got  to 
make  these  people  see  the  difference  in  food  value 
between  candy  and  milk.  That  kuowleflge  will  take 
care  of  the  dairy  business,  because  it  will  make 
milk  a  necessity  instead  of  a  luxury. 
* 
NEXT  week  we  shall  have  an  article  on  sub¬ 
stituting  Alfalfa  hay  for  grain  in  the  cow’s 
ration.  Some  dairymen  are  doing  this  successfully 
— feeding  silage,  Alfalfa  and  not  over  two  pounds 
of  grain.  You  will  find  feeders  who  say  this  can¬ 
not  he  done.  They  are  like  those  who  say  a  man 
cannot  possibly  do  a  day’s  work  and  keep  well  with¬ 
out  eating  great  quantities  of  meat.  Then  some 
one  comes  and  works  all  around  them  on  a  diet  con¬ 
taining  very  little  meat!  In  many  eases  protein 
food  is  cheaper  in  purchased  Alfalfa  hay  than  it  is 
in  grain.  When  the  hay  is  cut  fine  or  crushed  and 
fed  with  silage  it  makes  a  good  ration  with  a  small 
amount  of  feed  mixed  with  it.  In  New  England, 
particularly,  a  dairyman  will  find  New  York  Alfalfa 
hay  cheaper  than  Western  grain.  Some  men  have 
the  feed  habit  so  fixed  that  they  cannot  imagine 
any  substitute,  yet  when  Alfalfa  hay  is  crushed  it 
has  just  about  the  same  composition  and  appearance 
as  wheat  bran.  A  dairyman  should  raise  his  own 
Alfalfa  or  clover.  If  he  does  not  he  can  often  buy 
it  to  better  advantage  than  grain. 
* 
SOME  of  our  readers  are  greatly  annoyed  at  re¬ 
ceiving  circulars  and  price-lists  from  liquor 
dealers.  These  people  do  not  use  liquor,  and  it 
hurts  their  feelings  to  receive  open  circulars  offer¬ 
ing  them  whisky  for  sale.  They  want  to  know  if 
the  Government  will  not  prosecute  people  who  make 
them  such  an  offer.  We  have  taken  this  matter  up 
with  the  postal  authorities  several  times,  and  they 
tell  us  they  cannot  deny  tlie  liquor  dealers  rights 
to  the  mail,  unless  they  send  out  immoral  or  obscene 
literature,  or  make  offers  which  are  clearly  dis¬ 
honest  or  made  with  intent  to  deceive.  Thus  a  liquor 
dealer  has  a  right  to  send  a  circular  offering  a 
brand  of  whisky  for  sale,  and  he  is  privileged  to 
praise  his  whisky  and  print  testimonials  from  those 
who  say  they  have  used  it.  We  know  how  it  must 
gall  the  soul  of  a  Prohibitionist  to  have  such  liter¬ 
ature  come  to  him  publicly  and  openly  marked,  hut 
unfortunately  there  is  no  way  of  keeping  such 
documents  out  of  the  mail.  Nor  will  it  remedy  the 
trouble  by  writing  abusive  or  threatening  letters 
to  these  whisky  men.  That  will  probably  make 
them  all  the  more  anxious  to  send  the  documents. 
Our  own  plan  is  to  write  them  a  respectful  letter, 
stating  that  we  have  no  use  whatever  for  their 
December  2,  1916. 
stuff,  and  that  we  would  like  to  have  our  name 
taken  off  their  mailing  list.  This  usually  brings 
the  desired  result,  for  these  people  have  no  money 
to  throw  away  on  postage,  and  when  they  learn  that 
you  have  no  use  for  their  goods,  they  will  stop  try¬ 
ing  to  sell  to  you. 
* 
A  NUMBER  of  readers  have  written  asking  what 
we  think  of  President  Wilson’s  remarks  on 
the  “two  blades  of  grass”  theory.  As  we  under¬ 
stand  it,  the  President  told  the  National  Grange 
that  the  middlemen  are  responsible  for  the  present 
high  retnil  prices.  That  statement  is  correct.  We 
believe  tlie  middlemen  have  seized  upon  the  present 
opportunity  to  boost  prices  far  beyond  actual  needs, 
and  they  are  making  it  appear  that  tlie  farmer  is 
responsible.  Tlie  case  of  eggs  represents  this  game. 
These  eggs  left  tlie  farmer’s  hands  months  ago  at 
a  low  figure.  Now  they  come  out  of  storage  and 
tlie  dealers  try  to  work  them  off  at  a  high  price  for 
which  they  are  entirely  responsible.  President  Wil¬ 
son  went  on  to  tell  the  Grange  that  the  farmers 
should  raise  larger  crops — that  is,  produce  two 
blades  of  grass!  We  can  safely  tell  the  President 
or  anyone  else  right  now  that  the  American  fa  rul¬ 
ers  are  not  going  to  double  their  crops  until  they 
know  that  a  fair  price  and  a  fair  market  is  assured 
them.  Under  present  conditions  the  extra  blade  of 
grass  would  simply  make  a  softer  bed  for  the  mid¬ 
dlemen,  while  tlie  farmer  rested  on  corncobs!  Nev¬ 
er  again  Will  any  man,  or  set  of  men,  be  able  to 
work  the  “two  blades  of  grass”  theory  except  by 
first  guaranteeing  a  square  deal  for  the  one  blade. 
Give  us  real  marketing  reform,  and  the  crops  will 
soon  adjust  themselves  to  supply  and  demand. 
* 
“What  do  you  read ,  ml/  lord?” 
11  Words,  words,  words!” 
EVER  before  in  the  history  of  America  was 
so  much  printer’s  ink  smeared  over  the  food 
question.  All  of  a  sudden  everyone  rushes  into 
print,  with  some  statement  about  food.  There  are 
enough  committees  at  large  to  make  a  standing 
army,  and  they  are  all  talking  and  investigating. 
In  the  meantime  tlie  consumers  are  held  up  for 
high  prices,  while  there  is  an  abundance  of  food  in 
the  country.  The  storage  houses  are  crowded  and 
there  is  a  big  surplus  on  the  farms.  The  greater 
part  of  all  this  talking  and  “investigating”  simply 
enables  the  middlemen  to  get  away  with  the  prices 
under  cover  of  the  great  fog  of  words.  Stop  talk¬ 
ing  and  investigating  and  do  something.  Some  peo¬ 
ple  are  shouting  for  an  embargo  on  all  food  stuffs. 
That  would  not  remedy  the  trouble— it  would  only 
cause  greater  interference  with  the  free  passage  or 
exchange  of  products.  We  all  know  now  without 
any  more  “investigating”  what  the  trouble  is  in 
New  York  City.  The  system  of  distribution  is  all 
wrong.  It  is  such  that  the  railroads  and  dealers 
• — large  and  small — can  control  and  limit  distribu¬ 
tion  and  thus  prevent  free  exchange  between  pro¬ 
ducer  and  consumer.  The  remedy  is  public  terminal 
markets  and  cooperative  stores  backed  by  State 
authority  to  serve  as  a  connecting  link  right  be¬ 
tween  the  farm  and  the  buying  public.  Stop  all 
this  blowing  off  useless  words  into  gas.  Put  them 
all  under  the  Legislature  and  set  it  on  fire  to  boil 
out  a  great  terminal  market.  That  is  the  biggest 
question  that  will  come  up  at  Albany  this  season. 
5* 
The  R.  N.-Y.  quite  frequently  uses  with  good  effect 
a  text  from  the  Scriptures — “He  is  of  age — ask  him.” 
Would  you  mind  telling  us  what  started  this?  s.  B.  it. 
UREI.Y.  Some  years  ago  we  were  having  a 
pleasant  little  controversy  over  the  Wonder- 
berry,  which  had  been  “originated”  by  Luther  Bur¬ 
bank.  In  order  to  learn  all  we  possibly  could  about 
this  plant  we  wrote  every  person  we  could  think  of 
as  likel3r  to  have  any  real  information.  Among 
others  we  wrote  Prof.  E.  ,T.  Wickson  of  California, 
who,  as  a  close  friend  of  Mr.  Burbank,  might  be  ex¬ 
pected  to  know.  All  lie  did  was  to  refer  us  very 
courteously  to  Mr.  Burbank  In  these  words:  "lie  is 
of  age — ask  him!  We  asked  Mr.  Burbank  several 
times,  but  got  no  satisfaction,  but  we  think  the  ad¬ 
vice  very  good,  and  well  adapted  to  general  ap¬ 
plication. 
Brevities 
In  talking  sheep  we  are  not  trying  to  pull  the  wool 
over  farmers’  eyes — hut  trying  to  put  it  on  their  backs. 
In  turning  over  the  book  of  life  this  solid  fact  ap¬ 
pears.  Your  laugh  is  what  the  people  want — they  do 
not  want  your  tears ! 
We  are  told  that  there  are  10  votes  behind  every  dog 
in^  New  York  State,  llow  many  behind  each  sheep? 
We  shall  never  know  until  we  line  them  up. 
So  long  as  a  man  drives  the  old  horse  at  a  fair  pace, 
he  will  always  stop  on  the  road  to  give  a  stranger  a 
lift.  When  he  gets  a  car  he  sets  his  face  and  dashes 
by.  Tell  us  why? 
