748 
lhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The Rural New-Yorker 
77/A' RUSJXRS8 FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Home* 
Established i860 
Published weekly by (he Ron) Publishing t'omyuny, *38 West 80th Street, New fork 
Herbert W. Cojjjnqwood, President and Kditor. 
John J. Dillon, Treasurer and General Manateei*. 
Wb. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mrs. K. T. Rovlr, Associate Editor. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal ITnion, $2.04. Remit In money 
order, express cider, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office os Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, *1.00 per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to uh , and cash must accompany transient orders. 
‘•A SyUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper Is backed by a respon¬ 
sible )*>rson. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. But to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sustained by t resting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advcitiacr# or inl>le.vmtu|- advertisementB in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. Wo are also often called upon 
to adlust differences or mistakiu. between our Kub-criber* and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertiser* or mi|. We wjllingly use cur good 
offices to this end, but sucli case* slam Id not be confused with dishonest 
transactions. We protect snle-crtbei* agmrist lopiies, hut w. will not be 
responsible for the debts of hornet hankmi ts ruiu tlenoil by the courts. 
Notice of the complaint must to le nt to us within one month of the time of 
the trsTissetion, and to identity it, yen riiuuJd mention Tux Kmt Kew- 
Yorkkr when writing the advertiser. 
Your paper has been sent me by a good, unknown 
friend, to whom 1 am greatly obliged. I like it so well 
that when my subscription expires I shall certainly re¬ 
new. Its coming is like the breezy visits of a chatty, 
well-informed friend, with a good grip upon worldly 
affairs, and an evident love of righteousness. I like its 
visits and intend to have them continue. 
Now York. Rev. David keppel. 
W E hope The R. N.-Y. may go into the pulpit as 
well as into the pews with a message for all. 
* 
Q UITE a number of our New York readers write 
to ask if it is true that the State Department of 
Education insists that at least one acre of land must 
be allowed for school grounds when new buildings 
are planned. Tbe department's position is stated as 
follows: 
It is true that in the approval of plans for new 
school buildir"s it has hern held by this department 
for upwards i f 15 years that at least an acre of land 
is needed for a site. Our position in the mutter can be 
found on pages -Hi to 50 and 52 to 53 of the school 
building code, a copy of which is sent you under separate 
cover. It is generally if not universally recognized by 
school authorities that this mini mum of area is abso¬ 
lutely necessary to serve the educational interests of 
the children and minister to their activities. I know 
of no State that has fixed a lower standard, but 1 do 
know this, that most of them have fixed a higher one; 
that a standard must be fixed is obvious. 
You will agree that a district does not “donate” a 
site, building; equipment, a teacher, an education, or 
any school facilities whatsoever; it provides them, in 
like manner as a parent provides food, shelter and rai¬ 
ment for his children. It is an unescapable duty 
which should bo. as willingly and as cheerfully per¬ 
formed in the one case as in the other. 
We would like to see the district give a good- 
sized tract of land to go with the schoolhouse. Let 
it be developed with trees as a community park. 
Some years ago the schoolhouse in our home dis¬ 
trict was built of stones. The people got together 
and hauled at least one load of stone from every 
farm. That made a community building in the best 
sense. 
* 
ERE is an instance of the way people mix 
things up and then blame farmers for making 
wild statements. Some weeks ago Mr. Win. Perkins 
told how he picked 750 quarts of strawberries from 
half an acre, at one picking. These berries might 
well have been picked the day before. It is not un¬ 
usual to pick that, many quarts with some varieties 
when the berries all ripen together. The daily 
papers made a note of this picking and the note was 
copied, with the usual additions. Now comes a man 
who insists that we have stated that one picking 
from half an acre brought -$750. Of course it is easy 
to figure that there will be four pickings. That 
means $6,000 per acre income, and of course one 
man can care for five acres and hire children to 
pick! How easy it is to build fortunes out of dreams 
—and live forever after on strawberries and cream. 
For our own part, having raised strawberries for 
many years, we find that, much sweat and dirt and 
backache are required, while frost and drought and 
insects usually hold most of the best cards. But 
somehow we cannot seem to convince the average 
city man. He knows that all farmers need do is to 
grow 10 acres of strawberries and pick up $750 at 
each picking. 
* 
Y OU will frequently see in Ihe papers items about 
duplicate or counterfeit Liberty bonds. The 
story goes out that when these bonds were issued 
thousands of duplicates were made, and that these 
fell into tbe hands of thieves or gamblers. The evi¬ 
dent plan is to frighten the holders of these bonds, 
and make them believe that they may lose their in¬ 
vestment. In some cases, we understand, men and 
women have become alarmed and have sold their 
bonds rather than stand any chance of having them 
declared duplicates. We do not believe there is any 
danger whatever. The cry was started by a member 
of Congress who seemed to be seeking notoriety, and 
has become a propaganda for frightening bond hold¬ 
ers into selling. We hope none of our readers will 
do such a foolish thing. Tbe Liberty bond today 
ranks as one of the soundest securities in the world. 
It is sure to go above par, and will remain a solid 
and sound investment. We advise our readers to 
hold their Liberty bonds and pay no attention to 
these stories. 
* 
W E have had a number of cases like the follow¬ 
ing: A woman received a present of a valu¬ 
able dog. This dog had been properly licensed by 
the former owner, but the town clerk insisted that a 
new license must be taken out. His point was that 
while the license was supposed to cover the dog, it 
did not cover tbe new owner, or give him legal right 
in the animal. He said the law did not permit the 
transfer of such legal right This question was re¬ 
ferred to the Department of Agriculture at Albany, 
and we learn that no new license is required. The 
old license given to the former owner is good for one 
year, and the new owner acquires it with the dog. 
* 
A wise man keeps his troubles to himself, and a fool 
tells them. K. A. 
HE farmer who sends /hat message is a philos¬ 
opher, for what he states is great wisdom. The 
world usually has troubles enough of its own, with¬ 
out any of us trying to go out of our way to tell our 
own individual woes. A “grouch” seems to he one 
who magnifies his own troubles, invents new' ones, 
and then spends most of his time advertising them. 
No man adds anything to society by chipping in a 
few private troubles.. It is one of the strongest of 
human inclinations to do that, but one of the weak¬ 
est of human actions to give way to it. 
* 
HE Legislature of Kentucky has passed a one- 
mo rial to Congress in -which it is resolved: 
Congress to grant to those wlio lost in the operation 
of their business during the year 1920, the same relief 
in regard to tax exemption as is granted to those who 
lost in the year 1919 or 1921. This to apply to farm¬ 
ers, planters, manufacturers, merchants and all others 
who may have been unfortunate in the year 1920 the 
same as those who were unfortunate in the other years 
referred to. 
It seems that in the income tax law of 1919 per¬ 
sons and firms making losses in 191S can go back 
and get relief from taxes. Also a person or firm 
making a loss in 1921 can make a deduction of such 
loss from the profits of the following year. During 
the year 1920 many farmers and planters lost heav¬ 
ily. It is claimed that in Kentucky wheat declined 
about $1 a bushel, cotton about 6c a pound, or $20 
a bale; corn from $1.43 per bushel to 69c per bush¬ 
el ; wool declined about 35c per pound; hogs, cattle 
and sheep all declined about 6 to So per pound. 
This means a heavy loss to farmers—larger in pro¬ 
portion than losses in any other lines of business, 
and these Kentuckians feel that they should have 
equal privileges with other classes to recover. Why 
pot? 
* 
“Each wont to the people, each penetrated to the 
crossroads aud grass-root sections. Each covered these 
sections thoroughly, and each covered the small towns 
thoroughly. And in all States the balance of power 
lies beyond the walls of the great cities.” 
HAT is the way the New York Herald refers to 
the recent primary elections in Indiana and 
Pennsylvania. Beveridge in Indiana ami Pincbot 
in Pennsylvania made their campaigns mostly in 
the country among the farmers and small-town peo¬ 
ple. They had definite issues of fair criticism and 
reform, and they carried these issues right out 
where the people lived. The last sentence of the 
above quotation is what Tiie R. N. Y lias stated for 
years. In all the world’s history the final settlement, 
of affairs has been dictated by country people. The 
rural vote finally decides. That is because our coun¬ 
try people are closer to the soil—the great mother 
of us all and tbe great evener and stabilizer of 
human effort. The town people may think they 
excel in culture, but the country is closer to true 
cultivation, and that is the real foundation of 
society. In New York State, as well as in Indiana 
and Pennsylvania, the country people can, if they 
like, help themselves and their State by sending 
strong and clean men to represent us at Washing¬ 
ton. They can do it whenever they think it is worth, 
while to do so. 
* 
S OME patient investigator with a fad for figures 
has been trying to count the automobiles in the 
world. We should think it would be much like 
counting the Ilies in a barn, but we are told that 
June 3 , 3922 
there are 11,162,110 cars in alb Of this nr. nber 
10,505,660, or 83 per cent, are in the United b’h.ies. 
Most of us would have said that Europe must be 
full of cars as a legacy from the Great War, but 
this expert gives these figures; Great Britain, 497,- 
582; France, 236.146; Germany, 91.384. It does not 
seem possible that these German figures can be cor¬ 
rect. To show bow widely the explosive power of 
gasoline 1ms traveled, consider the following: Porto 
Rico, 6,500 cars; Newfoundland. 600; Bahamas, 150; 
Cuba, 20,000; Paraguay, 500; Dominican Republic, 
1.800. Canada has only about 35.000 less than the 
whole of Great Britain! In most parts of the 
United States there is still room for new cars—in 
fact, there will be eventually twice as many as are 
now to be found. There is no question that the 
character of any community or country is greatly 
influenced by the use of gasoline power for trade 
ami traffic. Some of this influence is not desirable, 
but who can deny that the world as a whole has 
been made better by the invention and application of 
the gasoline engine? 
* 
W E have had several articles on the use of 
inoculated sulphur for preventing potato 
scab. Many farmers have certain fields which are 
better for potato culture than any other part of the 
farm, yet it is feared that if potatoes are grown 
year after year scab will develop, even if certified 
seed is used. It. is believed that by using inoculated 
sulphur broadcast each year much of this trouble 
can be avoided. We understand that experiments 
are under way to try to settle this point. If this 
form of sulphur will make such soil fit for potatoes, 
many a farmer will be advantaged. It might be 
possible even to use limestone foi* growing clover on 
potato ground. We do not advise anyone to try this 
on a large scale. It may work out right, but we 
advise waiting until it has been fully tried. 
* 
HEN Hubam clover was first introduced in a 
small way we said it. would find its greatest 
value in market gardens, or in what we call inten¬ 
sive fanning. Its chief function in the future will, 
we think, he to serve as a green manure crop and 
bee pasture. Thus far tbe criticisms of this clover 
have mostly come from people who never tried it for 
this purpose! It has been condemned because it did 
not give as much hay or pasture as tbe old-fashioned 
Sweet clover. It is like criticizing a quick, active 
road horse because he cannot pull as much as a big 
drafter, when the object for which lie ivas created 
was to pull a light load with speed. We think that 
some of the experiment stations have not done full 
justice to this clover. In their eagerness to “knock’’ 
a new candidate for favor they have not given it a 
fair trial at the job for which it is best suited. 
* 
HE Interstate Commerce Commission lias ordered 
a horizontal cut of 10 per cent in freight rates, 
to be effective July 1. The commission also decides 
that 5% l»cr cent is a “reasonable” annual return on 
railroad investment. Freight rates on agricultural 
products were out last, year, and the coming reduc¬ 
tion will uot affect them. It is estimated that this 
freight reduction will mean a saving to somebody 
of about $250,000,000. The decision to make a 
horizontal cut is not satisfactory. President Hard¬ 
ing called for heavy reductions in freight on farm 
products, and Secretary Hoover wanted reductions 
on coal and other “basic commodities.” The object 
of this was to stimulate the shipment of farm goods 
and hasten the distribution of coal and other neces¬ 
sities. Under this plan the rates on finished 
products would remain where they are. This reduc¬ 
tion will not show itself in retail prices for months, 
if ever, but it will, without doubt, bring up the 
question of labor prices. There will be a general 
feeling that railroad employees must share with the 
railroads in this reduction. There is much dissatis¬ 
faction that no cut. was made in passenger rates. 
We think such reduction would have increased the 
passenger service more than enough to make up for 
the loss, while the freight reduction will not greatly 
stimulate shipments. 
Brevities 
The Spring lamb crop is reported short. 
It has been decided that “dandelion wine” is an in¬ 
toxicant. 
Miss Aj.ick L. Daly is a candidate for Governor in 
South Dakota. The first time any woman had a real 
chance of election to such an office. 
A New York judge has ruled that a failure to cook a 
man’s breakfast is good ground for separation from his 
wife. In this case the wife claimed her husband re¬ 
fused to cat her food ! 
