240 
<Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 18, 1022 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE J31I&1NJCSB FARMER'S PAPER 
A. National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home* 
Established issa 
Published weekly by the Rural PublisHln* Company, 883 West 80th Street,Now fork 
Herbert W. Coltjjjgu'liod, President and Editor. 
John .1. IHi.lon, Treasurer and General Manager. 
VTM. P. Dillon, Secretary. _ Hits. E. T. Rovi-r. As soc iate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union. 82.01. equal to 8a Gd., or 
tSU marks, or It'S francs. Remit in money order, express 
order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office sis Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates. 11.00 per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; aud cask must accompany transient orders. 
‘•A SQUARE DEAL" 
We believe that every advertisement in tbit, paper is backed by a respon¬ 
sible person We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. Hut to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by trusting any deliberate swindler, irreapon- 
»jbu advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
Mich swindler will be publicly eiposefl. We me also often called upon 
to adjust differences <>r mistakes between one subscribers und honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertiser* or not. We willingly u -c our good 
tilbcrs to this end, but such cases should not bo confused With dishonest 
transaction*. We protect subscrllwi-s against rogue*, but wo will not he 
responsible for the. debt* Of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice »f the complaint must be sent to uo within one month of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it. you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
As the Mister thinks he has papers enough, you will 
lie pleased to know that Mrs. Smith does not wish it 
discontinued. Which is very good evidence the paper 
is a good one. GEO. P. SMITH. 
OU will be interested to know that we have 1,000 
different Smiths on our New York list. Oni* 
compliments to Mrs. Smith. We certainly accept 
tliis incident as solid proof of good feeling and merit. 
* 
T IIE disarmament conference at Washington 
closed its work last week. A statement of 
what was accomplished is made on the next page. 
Of course these treaties must be ratified by the 
legislators of the various countries before they be¬ 
come operative. As for the value of all this work, 
you can get about any opinion you like. President 
Harding regards the outcome as a great step toward 
world peace. On the other hand, some of our readers 
write us with great bitterness, saying that the money 
and military interests have won a great victory. 
Personally, we think the conference was as success¬ 
ful as anything of the sort could be in the present 
troubled condition of the world. It has at least 
shown that the nations can get together and discuss 
their differences reasonably. 
* 
The present need of this country is not more laws, 
but an honest enforcement of what we have. As a great 
militant body of law-abiding people, the Grange has al¬ 
ways stood for orderly government. Laxity in law en¬ 
forcement, wherever indulged, threatens destruction, und 
should immediately command the effective rebuke of 
every true citizen. 
HAT is taken from an address by S. J. Lowell, 
Master of the National Grange, One great 
trouble with our present situation is that too many 
educated and influential people disregard laws and 
make light of them. Whenever a law seems to inter¬ 
fere with their own personal habits or selfish inclina¬ 
tion they evade it or ignore it ns far as possible. 
Then, after setting an example of direct contempt 
for law and authority, they complain because people 
do the same thing with other laws. In many cases 
the very people who owe most to America for wealth 
or education or power are Hie worst lawbreakers we 
have. They may not steal or kill or commit larger 
crimes, but they do worse than that when, by little, 
petty meanness and sneaking evasions they teach the 
public that law is a thing to be evaded whenever it 
hits our personal appetites or habits too hard. A 
law which holds the poor mau with a grip of iron, 
but puts a rubber band on a rich man, is tlie surest 
breeder of discontent and anarchy. Another thing 
that weakens law and brings it into disrespect is the 
way influential people shirk jury duty and the little 
responsibilities which make up community life. 
These little things represent the foundation—the big 
things are built upon the small units. 
* 
W HEN the agricultural “bloc” in the United 
States Senate insisted that at least one mem¬ 
ber of the Federal Reserve Board should be a farm¬ 
er. many of the daily papers made a great outcry 
about “class legislation.” The law creating this 
board clearly states: 
“Of the five members (of the Federal Reserve 
Board) thus appointed by the President, at least 
two shall be persons experienced in banking and 
finance.” 
That sounds like “class legislation” until we real¬ 
ize that the business of (his board requires experi¬ 
ence in banking and handling large amounts of 
money. No one questions the wisdom of having 
men on this board who understand financial matters, 
yet the board is not entirely an organization for 
making money for the government The design is 
to use the public money for the best interests of 
American industries, and it will be admitted that 
few city bankers know much about practical agricul¬ 
ture and its needs. As agriculture lias suffered more 
from “deflation” than any other industry, and as it is 
the foundation industry of all, tliere seems no fair 
reason why farmers should not be represented on the 
board. Why is it "class legislation” to ask for one 
farmer when the law definitely calls for two bank¬ 
ers? 
* 
N a recent journey from Binghamton to Coble- 
skill we saw at least 50 farm machines out in 
the ice aud snow. There were mowers, bay-loaders, 
potato diggers, plows and smaller machines—at 
least $5,000—in that .one narrow valley going to 
rust, aud waste in the field. Possibly some of that 
soil needs iron as a fertilizer, but farm machinery 
makes an expensive form in which to apply it. This 
is what we call electing Jack Frost president of the 
“farm machinery trust.” 
* 
IIE United States Senate has passed the hill 
empowering farmers to market their products 
co-operatively. This bill has been advocated by the 
agricultural “bloc,” and 1ms been debated for some 
time. It finally passed, 5S to 3. Senator Wadsworth 
of New York voted for it; Senator Cakler did not 
vote. The Hill legally authorizes farmers and stock 
men to combine and act together for the sale of 
their products. It lias already passed tlie House, 
and will be signed by President Harding, as de¬ 
manded by the agricultural conference. 
* 
P.ILL at Albany makes it lawful for trust com¬ 
panies and savings banks to invest in Federal 
Farm Loan bonds. On the face of it. this seems like 
wise legislation. These bonds are as safe as any¬ 
thing short of a genuine Government obligation. 
The money derived from this sale is invested in farm 
mortgages, thus giving relief to the most useful and 
necessary class of citizens. Also these bonds provide 
sound and sure security to provide for the money of 
small investors who patronize savings institutions. 
Tlie bill is backed solidly by farmers and their repre¬ 
sentatives, but is bitterly opposed by real estate men 
and money brokers. These men make the selfish 
claim that this lull will attract millions of dollars 
to the Federal land bonds, taking them away from 
city mortgage loans. They go so far as to say that 
the city needs the money lor new houses more than 
the country needs it for food production. What ob¬ 
jection can there be to moving some of the surplus 
city population out into the country? The farmers 
in New York and the meu who represent them at 
AJbauy will back this bill to the limit. They have 
learned a lesson from Washington, and will combine 
their forces in the Legislature to defend their rights. 
£ouie years ago this paper started a campaign to put 
50 fanners in the Legislature. That, we believe, was 
the first suggestion for an “agricultural bloc.” At 
that time most of the farm leaders were frightened 
at the idea. Now they are making use of it in a 
practical way, for this fight over investments in Fed¬ 
eral Land Bank bonds will make a straight, clear- 
cut issue between city and country, and, as usual, 
the country will win. 
* 
Id looking over your advertisements in issue of Janu¬ 
ary 28. 3b22, I noted that it seems to be the rule among 
many farmers to adopt (lie cry of the city apartment 
owners—the old cry of "No Children Wanted ” As a 
married man with a family of five growing children on 
a rented farm, I would like to know what we are to do 
with our children in this modern age. If we cannot 
raise families, where are the next generation of farmers 
to come from? (From the city? I don't think!) 
Pennsylvania. k. g. SAUNDERS. 
T may be hard for tlie average farmer to realize 
it, but in this brief statement lies the “nut” of a 
great problem. Read the last two sentences of this 
letter the second time. When children become a 
nuisance on the farm we may well ask about the 
future. It is only now and then that we can find a 
farm family willing to employ a man with a family. 
There are a few such. Last year one of them adver¬ 
tised for a man with five children! He said be 
needed the five children in order to have a school in 
his district—to which his own children could go. Go 
to the average farmer and ask him about this, and 
lie will promptly veto any suggestion about placing 
human live stock on bis farm. We know all the 
arguments for and against. Our own farm is alive 
with children, and we are glad of it. This feeling 
against children is one of the reasons why many a 
natural born farmer has left the farm and gone to 
work in town, where his little ones are made wel¬ 
come. Thousands of us today are the children of 
“hired meu”; our fathers, and in some cases our 
mothers, went out to service in order that they might 
earn homes. If the breed of real farmers should 
run out we may expect factory farming. That will 
mean attempts to produce food on a large scale, by 
the use of inferior workmen, and without the civil¬ 
izing influence of the real country home. 
* 
CONFERENCE to discuss the economic situa¬ 
tion in Europe has been called to meet in 
Genoa, Italy, in March. This nation lias been in¬ 
vited to send delegates, but it lias not yet been set¬ 
tled whether we shall be formally represented or 
not There is a large group in this country, com¬ 
posed of men and women who oppose any connection 
with European polities. This nation has domestic 
troubles enough of its own ; it is an open question at, 
times whether we can handle them properly. To 
mix up in European problems would involve us in 
dozens rf racial quarrels and bankrupt state affairs 
which, by reason of our physical location, we never 
could handle properly. On the other hand, we must 
remember that Europe owes us over 10 billion dol¬ 
lars, with little or no chance of paying even the 
interest, unless we can supply raw materials and 
credit, and accept manufactured goods as part pay¬ 
ment. That is a fact which we must all face. The 
conference at Genoa will be very largely a meeting 
of our national debtors. As a creditor nation we 
think the United States should be represented, in 
order that its financial interests should be protected. 
This is aside from the fact that, as the richest and 
strongest nation on earth, America should help the 
European nations to rebuild their industries. Freni 
our reports we feel sure that, farmers, as a <’• ss. 
believe that America should be represented at Genoa. 
* 
E often bear from people who say they will 
never be satisfied until tlie country child has 
all the school advantages enjoyed by the city child. 
That is a worthy ambition, but these good people 
probably do not mean just wlmt they say. It should 
be easy to see that the course of instruction given a 
child in New York or Boston would nol be the most 
practical or useful for a child in a true rural dis¬ 
trict. The country child should have a training 
which will fit him for bis life work. We firmly be¬ 
lieve that town schools which many country children 
attend have done much to make such children dis- 
satislieil wilh rural life, fine strange thing about 
this modern education is the fact that educators do 
not seem to think they can learn anything from tlie 
old-time district school. It was not always the "lit¬ 
tle red schoolhousc* r —iu many cases it never was 
painted at all. It did, however, turn out a class of 
strong, vigorous, well-trained men and women, who 
made their mark upon history. Instead of condemn¬ 
ing the one-room district school unqualifiedly, as 
many of the educators do, I hey would better search 
for the reason of its old-time power. Of course we all 
want the country child to have every advantage the 
city child enjoys, but it would be small advantage’ to 
him to have city methods, without adaptation, forced 
upon the country. 
Brevities 
“Never lot play interfere with work” is a good 
motto, and so is “never let unnecessary work interfere 
with necessary play.” 
Can play o\er be called necessary? Just as much so as 
oil is necessary for machinery. The oil may not add to 
power, but it makes power more effective. 
Tiie Ohio Experiment Station shows that 35 bushels 
of corn, when fed alone, are required to carry a 40-lb. 
pig to 200 lbs. When tankage is fed with tlie corn 30 
bushels will do it. 
The chicken mite can live many months without food 
and iu very low temperatures. It is never safe to con¬ 
clude that a house is free from mites because it has 
stood empty for some time. 
There is not so much heard about those tree powders 
this year. In years past farmers have spent thousands 
on stuff which was to be poked or pounded into a tree. 
There never was any value to the process. 
The Ohio Experiment Station recommends the use 
of 5 lbs. ..f nitrate of soda and S lbs. acid phosphate to 
each good-sized apple tree in Spring. Four pounds of 
sulphate of ammonia can be substituted for the nitrate. 
The Government is experimenting with dried hog 
feeds made from fish waste and waste lish on the Pacific 
Coast. Whale meat meal and shark meat meal are 
two of these products. They give good results at hog 
feeding when used with cornmeal—much like high-grade 
tankage. 
Some weeks ago a writer told of using a log of apple 
wood as a “lire brick” for a cold bed. Now he says: 
“The writer is fold that his scheme of hot wood log 
taken to Inal on a cold night not only has cured rhe>’ 
mutism, but saves vitality for old and young, and pro¬ 
longs life. The heat abstracted from a human body to 
warm an icy bed is a great druin on vitality.” 
