1002 
Jh* RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August l'z, lb22 
STANDARD OIL CO. OF NEW YORK 
26 Broadway 
State 
A NEW POULTRY BOOK 
POULTRY 
By A. W. Richardson, of the New 
Hampshire Agricultural Col¬ 
lege ; Edited by W. C. O’Kane. 
This Volume, in the Harper’* Hand¬ 
book Series, is especial Unwell done in 
matter and make-up. Every point of 
importance In practical poultry keen* 
ing Is treated, and reference is made 
convenient by hold face subject head¬ 
ings and a complete index. Price $1,50. 
For sale by 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 WEST 30th ST, - - NEW VOItH 
Thousands of New Subscribers 
have become interested in Hope Farm aud its people. They may not 
know that these notes have been printed for 20 years and more. 
Some 25 of the best of these old-time sketches have been published 
in book form. This book is called 
the farm. I ■stuck it out, but with severe 
toil. I worked as many *as 50 hours con¬ 
tinuously, and hurt myself physically to 
save .what I had put in the farm. It was 
all I bad. So I know from experience 
wliat is before the common people now. 
New York. w. c. m. 
Farmers who were in debt for farms 
or equipment during the inflation follow¬ 
ing the Civil War learned by hard ex¬ 
perience the effect of an increase in the 
value of a dollar after the return to the 
gold standard in 1879 or thereabouts. 
The same effect was created in 1920 fol¬ 
lowing the World War by the action of 
the Federal Reserve Board in contracting 
credits. In May, 1920, the outstanding 
credits of these hanks were $2,928,031,090. 
In August, 1921. they were $1,527,255.- 
000. The shrinkage was $1,410,770,000. 
or nearly one-half the amount outstand¬ 
ing the previous year. During this time 
prices of products made record drops as 
a result of the contraction of credits: 
Corn, from $1.98 to $.55. or 72 per 
cent: wheat, from $2.97» to $1.23. or 58 
per cent; sugar, from $.224 to $.058. or 
74 per cent ; wool, $1.1(1 to $.49. or 57 
per cent; hides, from $.35 to $.14, or 00 
per cent ; hogs, from $14.75 to $10.39, or 
30 per cent; cattle, from $12.00 to $8.75. 
or 30 per rent. 
For the five months following August, 
1921, to the end of the year, there was a 
further contraction "f credits- by the 
banks and a corresponding further de¬ 
cline of prices. Owing to the panic 
which followed the restriction of credits 
and contraction of currency the prices of 
products declined more than the credits, 
as would be expected. 
During the inflation time millions of 
obligations were created in bonds, notes, 
contracts, mortgages, and book accounts. 
To pay off $100 of these debts in May, 
1920, would take: 
50.5 bushels of corn, 33.6 bushels of 
wheat, 86.2 lbs. of wool. 
values cannot increase or decrease at the 
same time. In an open market values 
vary in accordance with supply and de¬ 
mand. Tf a bushel of wheat exchanges 
for two bushels of potatoes. <»r two lumps 
of guld. the value of one of these three 
commodities is one of the others. There can 
be no general increase or decrease of 
value, because value is a comparison, and 
the whole burden of wealth cannot be 
compared with itself. 
Price, however, is the value of other 
things compared with gold. Instead of 
saying that the value of a bushel of wheat 
is 23.22 grains of gold, we say the price 
of a bushel of wheat is one dollar, and so 
with other things. The price of other 
things therefore, or the value of gold, is 
determined by comparing other things 
with gold or money, and paper money, 
and credits of all kinds have the same 
effect as gold on prices. (Tf is plain there¬ 
fore that if you reduce the money or 
credits, as the Federal Reserve Ranks 
did in 1920, you increase the pur¬ 
chasing price of the dollar and reduce 
prices of commodities. Whether we suc¬ 
ceed in finding a more stable measure of 
value than gold or not, we can at least 
deprive officials of the power to disturb 
business and to swindle the masses of the 
people for the benefit of security holders 
by arbitrary contraction of credits and 
expansion of the purchasing power of 
the dolhuay 
Obstructed Stovepipe and Creosote 
T have noted the complaints about 
creosote dripping from stovepipes. Sev¬ 
eral years ago I had the same trouble. 
At that time there was a damper in the 
pipe, located about 2 ft. from the heater, 
used to check the draft. We had a new 
length of pipe put in. and the damper 
was omitted. Since that time we have 
not been troubled with creosote, therefore 
we guess a damper in the stovepipe is 
the cause. m, ii.p. 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
SDCDNY 
•cc.utPAT. orr. 
GASOLINE 
Every gallon dependable everywhere 
Every reader of the Rural New-Yorker should own a copy. Among 
other remarkable tributes is the following: 
Mr. M and I have just finished Hope Farm Notes, 
and I wish you would express to Mr. (’ollingwood the 
pleasure that, it gave ns. We both liked it very much, 
and rarely do we both like the same book! 
Ohio. M. H. M. 
It is rare that any single book will appeal to all members of the 
family '1'his one will because it is filled with kindly feeling and 
human nature, ft should be in every country home. 
RURAL NEW-YORKER, 333 West 30th St., New York 
Gentlemen—Enclosed find remittance for $1.50, for which send 
me. postpaid, a copy of “Hope Farm Notes.” 
Town 
Concerning 
Gasoline Power 
Name 
ACCURATE tests in the lab- 
oratory and on the race 
track have shown that the power 
of Socony Gasoline is second to 
none and that it is unequalled 
for all-round dependability and 
uniform quality . 
And dependability covers every¬ 
thing that you want in a gasoline 
—quick starting, pick-up, power 
and maximum mileage—which 
all together make for economy. 
A Primer ol Economics 
By John J. Dillon 
The Value of a Dollar 
I read and reread with pleasure and 
profit the several chapters of your 
"Primer of Economics.” 1 wish you 
would write another chapter on the value 
of a dollar as its real measure, detailing 
it clearly as you do other facts. You 
can make clear the importance of having 
a stable measure of value. I know a 
man who bought yearling heifers two 
years ago. paying one-half cash, and is 
now obliged to sell the same animals, 
now cows, to pay the hill unco of the pur¬ 
chase price. This condition is general. 
.Something ought to he done to prevent 
the further transfer of real property from 
present owners to owners of bonds and 
other obligations which were not worth 
more than half their present value at the 
time given. The condition is the same 
as it was from 1880 to I lie end of the 
nineteenth century, when I had paid in 
$6,000 on this farm and owed a balance 
of $8,000, having bought when Ike dollar 
was cheap. Through no fault of mine 
the Government by legislative act dou¬ 
bled the value of the dollar and at the 
same stroke of the pen doubled the value 
of my mortgage to the man who held it, 
and practically wiped out m.v equity in 
To pay off $100 in August, 1921, re¬ 
quired : 
181.8 bushels of corn, 81.3 bushels of 
wheat, 204 lbs. of wool. 
These items are taken at random from 
a report of the Controller of the Cur¬ 
rency. Other items show still greater 
shrinkage. The men who contracted 
these debts or put their money into the 
production of the goods Imd no means of 
protecting themselves. They had no way 
of knowing what, the Federal Reserve 
Board would do. They imd no power to 
restrain the arbitrary act that increased 
the purchasing power of money one-lialf. 
doubled their debts and cut the price of 
their products in two. 
An understanding of the terms value 
and price is important in a discussion of 
this subject. The value of an article is 
simply another article that it will ex¬ 
change for. It is always relative. All 
:t 
m 
. -a 
* 
_ 
What about the field stones on your farm? We have nearly three miles of stone Wall 
on our place—five generations helped 4mikl these walls, and the fields are still covered 
with stones. What do you do with them? The picture shows what L. S. Felkcr of 
Sodas. X. Y., did with some of the stones on one field. We wish there were more 
stone houses or porches or fireplaces where these old stones could show off. They 
blistered the lingers and bruised the ribs of our ancestors—now give them a chance to 
repose in solid beauty. 
EDMONDS’ POULTRY 
ACCOUNT BOOK 
If you keep only ten or si dozen liens, 
there will be Satisfaction and Profit 
in knowing;just howthe account stands. 
This book Will tell t.ly* whole story. 
The account may be begun at any time, 
and the balance struak at any time. 
Simple and Practical. 
Price, $1.00 - - To Canada, $1.25 
For sale by 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
333 West 30th St., New York 
