I I 10 
‘Px RURAL NEW-YORKER 
September 9, 1922 
The Rural New-Yorker 
T1IE ItVSIXES8 FARMER'S TAPER 
A National Weekly Journal tor Country anil Suburban Home* 
Estoblixhiit I S.iO 
riibllnhrd weekly lij (hr Rural rnbl'shing I'ouipany. 331 IVext 80lh Street, New Vork 
Herbert W. Ooli.isi'.woiiii, Prenident and Editor. 
John J. Dillon. Treasurer and General Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon, Secretary. Mitt'. E. T. Rovi.e, Associate Editor. 
I.. H. Murpht, Circulation Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign conntrles in the Universal Postal Union, $2.04. Demit in money 
order, express order, personal cheek or hank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Office as Second Clues Matter. 
Advertising rates. »l.ix) per agate line—7 words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us ; and cash mnst accompany transient orders. 
"A SQUARE PEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is backed by a respon- 
siole person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only Rut to make doubly sure, we will make good any Ins' 
to paid subscriber* sustained by tm-ting *ny deliberate swindler, Irrespon 
slide advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will ho publicly exposed. We are also often called upon 
t" adjust differences or mistake- between our subscribers and honest. 
responsible bouses, whether n<l»ert1*ee* ot not. We willingly use our good 
offices to this eml, but such ivm- should «nr. lie confused with dishonest 
transact ions. We protect subscribers aguiiKtixigues.lr.it wo will not.be 
responsible for tbn debts of hou.st bankiurts ouiclloneil by the courts. 
Notice of tlio complaint must be sent to ns within one month of the time Of 
the transaction, and to identify it. you should mention The Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
W E have had little to say about Hubam clover 
this season. We did our best to have our 
people try it, and we tried to caution them agaiust 
“plunging” in high-priced seed. By this time it must 
be that hundreds of our people are prepared to ren¬ 
tier a verdict. What do you think of Hubam? What 
will be its chief value in your locality? Is it a fail¬ 
ure entirely or in part? We would like your true 
opinion. You know what we think about it, but that 
doesn't matter. If Hubam is to find a place any¬ 
where near those 12 great Americans it must do as 
the rest of us ai*e obliged to do —do it ourselves. 
* 
S EVERAL Pennsylvania readers have asked if 
the driver of a horse vehicle on the roads of 
that State has any rights in competition, with a 
tractor-engine driver. Some of our folks seem to 
think the tractors own the roads. Most certainly 
the horse and his driver have rights on the road. 
The following section appears in the Pennsylvania 
Jaw: 
Section 14.—When signaled to do so by the driver 
of any horse or other animal of draft or burden, the 
operator of a traction-engine or tractor shall stop, ami 
if circumstances require it shall stop his engine until 
the danger lias been avoided. When overtaken by any 
other vehicle legally traveling at a greater speed the 
operator or driver of any traction-engine or tractor, 
when signaled to do so, shall turn reasonably to the 
right or left of the center of the highway, allowing the 
other vehicle free passage to the right or left. 
* 
On page 996 I note with pleasure your approval of 
the suggestion of W. J. I ). as to “auto hogs,” more 
accurately described as aulo pirates. Instead of send¬ 
ing the photo to the people concerned send it to the 
police headquarters, sheriff’s office and all other public 
offices in the vicinity, including the post office, and with 
the picture offer a reward for the arrest and conviction 
of (lie thieves, if they have actually stolen anything of 
value. The reward may he merely nominal, hut not 
trivial, ATTORNEY. 
Pennsylvania. 
HIS refers to the suggestion for taking a photo¬ 
graph of the auto thieves, including their car, 
and its number, and then posting the pictures where 
they will get fullest publicity. This plan of pointing 
a camera at the thieves is better than holding them 
up at the point of a gun. 
Is it true that the United States Senate voted to per¬ 
mit vegetable oils to be imported duty free? s. J. k. 
ES and no. When the original proposition came 
up the Senate voted to give a rebate to manu¬ 
facturers and users of vegetable oils which were in¬ 
tended for non-edible purposes. The chief benefits 
from this would have gone to the soap-makers. The 
oils would have been imported as usual, paying a 
high tariff. Then on certification that these oils 
were not used for food the soap-makers would have 
received a rebate of the tariff tax. The manufac¬ 
turers of oleo and other butler substitutes supported 
ibis plan; in fact, it came down to a battle between 
these dairy substitute manufacturers and the dairy 
interests. Later the matter was brought up again, 
and tlie Senate reversed its former action, voting MS 
to 26 to kill the rebate plan. This leaves a straight 
tariff of three cents a pound on Soy bean and cot¬ 
tonseed oils and four cents on coconnut and peanut 
oils, the last named being largely used in making 
dairy substitutes. In the final vote both Senators 
from New York, Calder and Wadsworth, voted 
against the position taken by the dairymen. 
* 
T is said that Wisconsin is coming back as a 
wheat-producing State. Shortly after the Civil 
War Wisconsin was one of the great wheat States, 
occupying about the position comparatively that 
Dakota does today. Wheat growing without proper 
rotation or live stock injured the soil. The yield 
per acre was reduced, and farmers were driven to 
dairying in order to restore their land. While the 
wheat lands of the Far West remained cheap Wis¬ 
consin farmers could not fairly compete, hut now 
they are growing wheat once more. As a companion 
crop with Alfalfa and with dairying wheat will pay. 
Long years of cow keeping have made the soil fat 
and prosperous, and as a side line wheat will pay, 
where as a leading crop it failed. This is only one 
illustration of the changes that are working out in 
farming. Many sections are going back to old-time 
crops. One generation succeeds with some new crop 
and the next one may go back to the old one with 
profit. Personally, we think there is to be something 
of a revival of wheat growing in New York and 
New England. Europe is not gaining in food pro¬ 
duction and the world’s wheat crop is not. increas¬ 
ing. while population is increasing. With the ad¬ 
justment of the new tariff we think there will lie 
something of a change in Eastern agriculture, and 
that will mean an increased production of wheat 
ami meat. 
* 
E find that our readers are greatly interested 
in the case of that Pennsylvania farmer who 
shot and killed a woman while trying to drive fruit 
thieves off his premises. Wo ha ve been investigating 
this case carefully, and the following statement from 
one of our readers seems a fair review of the sail 
matter. So far as we can learn the farmer has a 
good reputation. His character is above reproach. 
This young farmer has h cultivated berry patch, and 
adjoining his place are blackberries growing wild. He 
has been very much troubled with women entering his 
patch and picking his berries, which form one of his 
cash farm crops, and he had given the pickers repeated 
warnings without, much relief. Now ns fo the fatal 
shooting, if so happens that the woman he shot was 
not picking in his private berry patch, hut in the ad¬ 
joining field, and the shot he fired over the heads of the 
women stealing his berries found a victim that he was 
not aware of. The farmer had no intention of injuring 
anyone. The results are very unfortunate on both 
sides. In a way both parties suffer, when neither had 
in mind any wrongdoing. F. K. n. 
As we understand it, this farmer caught fruit 
thieves in his berry patch and ordered them to leave. 
They refused, and in order to frighten them the 
farmer fired, purposely elevating liis gun so as to 
shoot over their heads. A woman, in an adjoining 
field, picking wild berries, happened to be exactly in 
line and was killed by the bullet. She was doing no 
harm, as we understand it, although legally a tres¬ 
passer, and the farmer had no thought of injuring 
her. 
* 
ODD for fuel! The menace of the coal strike 
has driven many people to consider wood for 
cooking and heating. In theory, present conditions 
ought to make a good market for eordwood. We 
think it will he a mistake to try to ship such wood 
to the great cities. One of the largest wood dealers 
in New York sends us this report: 
There is now no unusual demand for wood in the city 
ou account of the coal situation. 
Once or tw < in ii decade there might be a big freeze 
in thi;. harbor at the end of a period of continued cold, 
when hundreds of loaded coal boats might be prevented 
from reaching destination on account of ice. Then the 
coal consumption is so rapid that a genuine scarcity 
might oxis*. Ender such conditions we might sell cord 
lots to theatres or motion picture houses, to last them 
over one or two nights. But not over a dozen instances 
iu as many years. 
No market here for dead chestnut. 
The best market for firewood will be at home and 
in nearby towns and cities. Much coal can be saved 
by substituting wood for our household coal supply, 
and selling in smaller towns where, under usual 
conditions, there is poor distribution of coal. Thera 
will he little profit in shipping. 
* 
NUMBER of our readers are obliged to drive cows 
..long the public highway to and from pasture. 
As tlio roads are now pretty well filled up with cars 
and trucks, there is often trouble over the cows. 
Some oJ these car drivers claim that a cow lias no 
right ou the public highway. What about it? A 
cow, when accompanied by her owner or keeper, has 
just, as much right, to the road as a driven horse, and 
the horse ha • just as much right as the high-priced 
car. The true democracy of the road is that the boy 
kicking up the dust with his bare feet has as much 
right on the highway as any $5,000 car that ever 
tore up the asphalt! But the hoy, the car, the horse 
or the cow have these rights only as long as they 
behave themselves; that is, keep in their proper 
places and give the rest a fair share of the road. 
There are times when a cow acts about as near like 
a dunce as any object can get. and any man takes 
chances in driving a herd of cattle along a road 
where there is much traffic. The car driver is ex¬ 
pected to use reasonable care in going through a 
herd of cattle or in passing horses. Some drivers 
act as if they thought the roads were made for them 
to speed on and for nothing else. That is where they 
make their mistake. They are under legal obliga¬ 
tions to behave themselves and keep in their own 
place. Same thing with the cow! She may be the 
great mother or nurse of the race, but that does not 
justify her in acting like a silly calf and running 
directly in front of a car. A man who keeps the 
herd under control has full rights on the highway, 
but if the ear driver does his best to avoid trouble, 
and the cow seems to invite it, the driver would not 
be responsible. 
* 
IIE awful slump in wholesale prices of farm 
products has come as a hideous tragedy to 
many localities on the Atlantic slope. Probably the 
most distressing of all is found in Monmouth County, 
N. J. That county lies in the rich potash section, 
which stretches across the State from Sandy Hook 
to the Delaware River. It contains some of the best 
potato soil in the world, and some of the most in¬ 
telligent farmers in the country are located there. 
They have made a special crop of potatoes; in fact, 
some of them may be said to have become potato 
crazy. For two years conditions were against, them, 
hut when Spring opened there seemed every chance 
that they wore to have one of those phenomenal 
years which come at intervals in specialized farm¬ 
ing and clean up all losses. Instead of that, this 
year is proving worse than ever. The continued wet 
weather has greatly injured the crop, and the mar¬ 
ket has simply exploded. The finest potatoes that 
ever were dug out of the ground are being practi¬ 
cally given away or sold for ranch less than the cost 
of production. As is the case whenever farmers 
gamble with special crop production, these farmers 
have practically nothing else to sell. They are left 
with mortgages, unpaid notes and bills and other 
expenses which they cannot possibly meet, and the 
most expensive equipment banded down from more 
prosperous days. While part of their troubles are 
due to Hie system of special cropping, the chief 
cause of their misfortune is the action of the mid¬ 
dlemen who are handling the crop. Selling and dis¬ 
tribution have badly broken down, and tlie dealers 
are largely responsible for the financial calamity 
vhich faces these special crop producers. Even now 
the dealers and their backers could save the situa¬ 
tion if they eared to, tint they are more interested 
in their own financial gains than in the community 
welfare. It is a desperate situation, and something 
must l»e done to relieve it. The growers must be 
carried over, and plans must be made for the future. 
One suggestion will be found on page 1091. 
* 
HERE has been much discussion over tlie ques¬ 
tion of school transportation in New York 
State. Who is to pay for it? The following state¬ 
ment is made to us by the counsel of the State De¬ 
partment of Education: 
Where a district, maintains its own school for the ele¬ 
mentary grades it lias never been held that transporta¬ 
tion must he furnished for high school pupils who are 
attending school elsewhere. The question of tlie trans¬ 
portation of the children residing in a consolidated dis¬ 
trict involves an entirely different proposition. It has 
been held in certain cases that, where a district has been 
dissolved and annexed to an adjoining district, and the 
school house of tin* dissolved district has been Closed, t In* 
children being required to attend school iu the console 
dated district, transportation must be furnished at the 
expense of the consolidated district where the children 
of the dissolved district reside at a distance from the 
school building that is too great for them to walk. 
Brevities 
Ice cream is a food. 
This season with us lias been a case of the reign of 
the tain. 
In one way the reformer is like the transgressor—his 
way is hard. 
YVe find a good many flocks of chickens which are 
what you might call—strong in leg weakness. 
“No. YVe could stand it with good-nature if the con¬ 
sumer were getting advantage from the slump in prices.” 
Now they tell us that golf is likely to supersede base¬ 
ball as the great American game. “Cow pasture pool" 
is another name for g"lf. 
Rememher that a trespass sign ip New York must 
be at least I ft. each way. It would not do to have 
such a sign 2 ft. one way and 9 in. the other. 
One parent will often provide for six children, and 
do it lovingly and well; but did you ever know six cliil 
dron to provide* for one parent and do it without quar¬ 
reling or grumbling? 
We do not feel very sun* of the man who brags so 
much about his ‘‘open mind.” Some minds are so open 
that all that happens is that opinions of other people 
flow through them cud carry away whatever force the 
owner ever hud! 
Here is a suggestion for killing hen lice which is not 
expensive at least : "Obtain a stalk from a bunch of 
bananas, from which the bananas have been removed, 
from the grocery store, and hang it in the chicken coop. 
The hen lice will gather on the stalk over night, which 
then can be burned. Repeat this several times, and me 
lice will he done away with,” says II. A. II. 
