1346 
‘The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 11, 1922 
The Rural New-Yorker 
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S PAPER 
A National Weekly Journal for Country and Suburban Homes 
Established ls.io 
PiililUlirit nvrkljr by tbo Itnrol Publishing Cmnjmtij. S8R West SOth Strrrt. Non fork 
HF.HRKnr W. Ooi,uj,'awoor>, l'residenl and Editor. 
John J. Iu i.lon. Treasurer and Genera) Manager. 
Wm. F. Dillon. Secretary. MRS. E. T, RoYLB, Associate Editor. 
I,. II. MtJiPHT. Oin'iiiation Manager. 
SUBSCRIPTION : ONE DOLLAR A YEAR 
To foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $0.01. Remit in money 
order, express order, personal check or bank draft. 
Entered at New York Post Oltlce as Second Class Matter. 
Advertising rates, $1.00 per agate line—T words. References required for 
advertisers unknown to us j and cash must accompany transient orders. 
"A SQUARE DEAL” 
We believe that every advertisement in this paper is hacked by a respon¬ 
sible person. We use every possible precaution and admit the advertising of 
reliable houses only. Bin to make doubly sure, we will make good any loss 
to paid subscribers sminlbi d b.v trusting any deliberate swindler, irrespon¬ 
sible advertisers or misleading advertisements in our columns, and any 
such swindler will be publicly exposed. We. are also often called upon 
to adjust diltcmiee:; or mistakes between our suh-enbera and honest, 
responsible houses, whether advertisers or not. We willingly use our good 
others t>> this end. but such eases should not, he confined with dishonest 
transactions. We protect subscribers against rogues, but we will not lie 
responsible for the debts of honest bankrupts sanctioned by the courts. 
Notice ol the complaint must b* dent to us witliln oue month of the time of 
the transaction, and to identify it, you should mention Thu Rural New- 
Yorker when writing the advertiser. 
HERE seem* to lie one strange mix-up over tlie 
school report of the Committee of Twenty-one. 
Many farmers appear to think Unit (His committee 
is a creature of the state Department of Education. 
The department is exceedingly unpopular with these 
fanners, and (lms they arc prejudiced against the 
committee. The fact is (hat this committee is en¬ 
tirely separate from the department. It was started 
and carried through hy other influences, and flic 
report severely criticizes the department. At the 
recent convocation of the State Educational Depart¬ 
ment the report was attacked hy several speakers. 
We want to make it clear that thus far the commit¬ 
tee is encountering greater opposition from the de¬ 
partment than from any other source. Our judg¬ 
ment is that a majority of this committee fully un¬ 
derstand how farmers feel about Albany and its 
influence. We promised to give our readers a fair 
discussion of the question, without taking sides or 
influencing the dehate, hut we want to avoid the 
confusion which results from thinking that Albany 
created this committee and now dictates to it. We 
shall stand for a fair discussion, but no one will be 
permitted to resort to personalities or work off some 
local or personal grudge. It is too big a question to 
try to settle it •'hollering” or making faces. 
* 
It may be news to some that less than one-half of the 
tillable land of the United States is being made to pro¬ 
duce; that there are millions of acres of good soil still 
uuplowed. and millions more that would have great pro¬ 
ductive capacity if water were provided. It. may also be 
surprising to learn thal. while many other business ac¬ 
tivities are proceeding upon borrowed capital, in the 
form of bond issues, with little or no investment in cash, 
the farmer, on the average, employs no more than 25 
per cent of borrowed capital in his business. 
The nation is changing rapidly from an agricultural 
to an industrial basis. The latter means all the more 
mouths to feed, with an ever-decreasing number of 
workers to produce I he food. Agriculture must expand 
if the balance is to he kept safe. That means bigger 
and better farming, and that calls for capital. 
UT what is the sense in developing this new 
land when at the present time we are produc¬ 
ing more than we can distribute? Our "bumper” 
•crops this year are plunging many of our farmers 
further (lmn ever before in debt. There are millions 
of water power sites, large and small, scattered over 
the country. Why not demand that a new factory 
be located at each place so as to increase the output 
of manufactured goods? That is the very thing 
which manufacturers could not stand, for it would 
create such a surplus that the selling price would 
fall below cost of manufacturing. That is what has 
happened to farming. We are now producing more 
than we cun distribute. The worst thing that could 
happen would be opening of new land to cultivation. 
That would increase production and flood the mar¬ 
kets worse than ever. We do not need more land in 
cultivation. We need more efficient distribution and 
fewer middlemen. Will the government ever under¬ 
stand that? Here is the way oue of our readers 
sizes it up: 
I own a good Chautauqua Comity (X. Y.) farm, but 
have ceased hammering at production in these days of 
over-production, having withdrawn in favor of my more 
or less unfortunate fellow men, and accepted the prin- 
cipnlship of a Tillage school, turning my farm into pas¬ 
ture and meadow. v, n.n. 
It would be interesting to know where those man¬ 
ufacturers expect to sell iheir finished goods. With 
the present high tariff and every nation in Europe 
fighting for foreign trade in goods so as to pay their 
debts, where are we to find our export trade? This 
should remain an agricultural nation, but that will 
not he unless the farmer can be assured a fair price 
for what ho produces. What the manufacturers evi¬ 
dently want is a high protective tariff on their 
goods, and as soon as possible free trade in bread 
and meat for their workmen. We do not believe in 
a nation of great cities, fed l»y cheap labor in South 
America and the Pacific islands. 
It would he interesting reading if you would have a 
review of the success or failure of different turkey 
raisers with the use of ipecac for blackhead. n. I\ 
New Jersey. 
E think so. too, and we must depend on our 
readers for the facts. We do not know Imw 
many have tried the remedy, but (here must he a. 
good number. We would like to have them report 
the facts. Of course, no guesses or biased reports 
are wanted: just a plain statement of the outcome 
from feeding ipecac to turkeys. Tell us how you fed 
it. and give the result, he it good, had or indifferent. 
You cannot usually paint the truth in the rose color 
of the booster or the blue of depression. Mix the 
colors. 
* 
EKE comes a man finding fault because we try 
to tell the truth about the potato market. The 
low price is not entirely due to middlemen. There is 
a large crop and. without any question, many people 
in the big cities are eating less potato than formerly. 
Anyone who will visit New York and spend a little 
time investigating will find proof of this assertion. 
We think it better to tell the truth about such things 
carli /—before it is too late to remedy them. Tt is 
said that the Germans were able to keep the war 
going for the last. IS months through their supplies 
of water and potatoes. The falling water supplied 
power which kept the wheels turning, and produced 
explosives, while the potatoes supplied food for man 
and beast. We have come to the point where it is 
more important to increase the consumption of po¬ 
tatoes than to increase the size of the crop. 
* 
OTT0N in Southern New Jersey! Our experi¬ 
ence with cotton this year makes us quite sure 
that the crop can be grown south of Philadelphia at 
a fair profit. We think there is enough in the pros¬ 
pect to warrant, a trial. We would like to have at 
least 50 farmers in the southern counties each plant 
something like an acre, or at least half an acre, and 
give it good care. The average man may laugh at 
the idea of growing cotton north of Mason and 
Dixon’s line, but South Jersey and Delaware need 
new crops, and we must expect to pay something if 
we are to get them. 
* 
L C T~M’EKY patriotic citizen should drink a quart 
J— / of milk per day.” So says the dairy booster. 
The poultrymau says that every citizen should eat 
at least one egg a day. "An apple a day keeps the 
doctor away,” says the fruit grower. "Ami potatoes 
need a boost; the average consumption should be 10 
ounces at least." "There are vitamines in lettuce; 
every man and woman should eat at least one head 
per day,” says the market gardener. Then comes the 
live stock mati: “At least half a pound of good meat 
per day for each adult.” Put what is to become of 
the poor old human stomach it' its owner tries to be 
good-natured and satisfy all? We regard milk as 
the most necessary food; then bread, eggs, fruit and 
vegetables. In fact, they are all necessary. Some 
will crave oue form of food and some another. Just 
now, if a person is to eat not only to satisfy the 
body, but to benefit agriculture, milk, apples, po¬ 
tatoes and eggs are the things lie should spend most 
of his money for. 
* 
E understand that our friends, the Kernings, 
with their ox-team express, made what is 
called “a great hit” as they passed through Denver, 
Col. Most of the younger generation had never seen 
an ox at work. Colorado laid the foundation of its 
wealth in herds of more or less wild steers which 
lived the life of lazy gentlemen on the broad plains. 
But oxen at work! That is a different story in the 
West of today. The grandparents of some of these 
young people who smiled as the Berrang steers 
slowly toiled along Broadway came across the plains 
behind just such oxen. One difference lid ween the 
West and the East is the ease with which old meth¬ 
ods and old times may be cast aside. The West owes 
its very existence to the toiling <i.x, which pulled civ¬ 
ilization by inches across the prairie, yet with the 
coming of (be car the old veteran was blown com¬ 
pletely out of sight. In the East, although gasoline 
power has been developed even more thoroughly 
than in the West, the ox is still remembered, and 
even now does bis share of work. 
* 
ORD comes from Lexington, Ky., that the 
court has refused to permit farmers to trade 
and sell their goods in a public square which lias 
been used for that purpose UN> years or more. After 
a century of use as a market the farmers felt that 
they bad a right to it. just as the farmers of Lan¬ 
caster County. I’a., felt that they were privileged to 
sell their goods on Urn streets surrounding the court 
house. The Kentucky court ordered (he square 
closed to the farmers because they made it "unsani¬ 
tary and unsightly." These words make a large 
mouthful, hut we will wager that they are used to 
cloak the true reason, which was that the middlemen 
and dealers wanted to kill off direct marketing. The 
farmers have combined to light the order up to the 
Court of Appeals. They want a square deal on that 
square. The same sort of an industrial battle has 
been fought or is coming in hundreds of other towns, 
and no one will he likely to light for the farmers. 
They must do their own lighting. 
* 
Can a person 18 years of age, and having only one 
arm, obtain an owner’s license to operate his own car? 
1 am told that a person having only one arm cannot 
obtain a license to operate his own car. I have also 
been told that a man driving a car with one hand and 
having his other arm around his girl can be arrested for 
not having both hands on the wheel. d. a. f. 
New York. 
T would he a question for the examiner to decide. 
We know of several eases where men with only 
one arm have obtained a license and drive regularly. 
It depends on (heir character and reputation. Deaf 
men are often refused a license, yet some of them 
are safe drivers. As for (he other question, some <>f 
our serious, middle-aged readers may consider it 
trivial, yet it is frequently asked. There is no gen¬ 
eral law under which such a driver oouhl be arrested 
unless it was evident that the car was beyond his 
control. Naturally a one-armed man would not be safe 
under such conditions. If such a law or regulation 
were to be enforced, there would bo need of a great 
army of constables. It is. however, a dangerous 
thing to select the car, moving rapidly, as a theater 
for displaying some of the manifestations of youth. 
* 
O X page 1286 we spoke of the new trade which 
has developed in the poultry business-—culling. 
Here is a statement of what this trade, properly ap¬ 
plied, may mean to a poultrymau: 
A flock of 2(H) layers produced, before culHn-u , an 
average of IPS eggs per lien per year. 
After call-in //. 12(> of the best birds produced an aver¬ 
age of 160 eggs tier hen per year. 
Tim ,80 “calls” produced an average of 63 eggs per 
hen per year. 
All of the birds were fed and handled exactly alike. 
They all Consumed 01 lbs. of feed. 
This means that each hen consumed 97. lbs. of feed 
Iter year, <>r an average of about 4 oz. per day. This 
will mean close to $2 a year as food cost alone, to 
say nothing of labor and "overhead." We all know 
that. 63 eggs in one year never would pay that cost! 
Those SO hens were robbers. They were like board¬ 
ers who complain about the roast beef and skip their 
board bill. Any system that will get rid of these 
boarders before they select a regular place at the 
table will help the chicken business. Many poultry- 
men know how to do this culling themselves, though 
they may not he able to tell others how they do it. 
Others must depend on professionals to do the cull¬ 
ing for them, and it will pay to have it done. But 
know who your “culler" is. < Mil in Kansas an "ex¬ 
pert” went around culling flocks and generously 
offered to buy all the "boarders.” What he did was 
to pick out the best birds and buy them at meat 
prices! He left the drones. There was no molt on 
that man’s nest—he feathered it! 
Brevities 
Looks as if there would be more Fall plowing than 
usual this year. 
Remember that a bushel of ear corn is figured at To 
lbs.—56 lbs. for a bushel of shelled corn. 
A joint deed is all right for husband and wife, lair 
a deed with a “joint” in it, so it cau be twisted or bent, 
is all wrong. 
“I kind of sniff sulphur," writes oue of our readers 
who has received a “glad hand” circular and becomes 
suspicions. A delicate nose for sulphur is an asset in 
these days of takes. 
We have a letter from a man in Russia who is starl¬ 
ing in the chicken business, lie wants to import some 
American Leghorns and R. 1. Reds. These feathered 
Americans ought to do good missionary work in that 
far country. 
OUR New Jersey readers should understand that the 
State Fish and Game Commissioners have no power of 
judicial review and no pardoning power. When a citi¬ 
zen has been lined and the money sent to the State, 
that ends it. Any protest against the fine must he 
made at once. 
