1909. 
'I'HfcC KURAL NEW-YOKKER 
nay 
IMMIGRANTS AND LAND SALES. 
Keeping Men and Money Here. 
With reference to your article “New Type of Real 
Estate Agent,” on page 863, permit me to say: Among 
our recently arrived immigrants there arc millions 
of skilled farmers; in the sections from where Hun¬ 
garians, Italians and Slavs come, the chief industry, 
almost the exclusive one, is agriculture. Such peas¬ 
ants toil here in mining, construction, factory or any 
other work; they save a part of their earnings for 
the established purpose of purchasing tillable land, 
and as soon, as possible, re-engage in agriculture. 
A multitude of concerns, styling themselves “private 
hanks,” arc engaged in the business of transmitting 
the savings of such immigrants to their respective 
countries of origin, and sell them steerage tickets 
to rc-migratc. livery outgoing transatlantic steamer 
is full of such people. The amounts thus transmitted 
average $300,000,000 annually; last year, an excep¬ 
tional one, such exported sums amounted to over 
$(>00,000,000. The influx of this American money 
caused in certain pails of Kuropc the rising of the 
price of land to fabulous heights. Our 
Bureau of Immigation states that from 
July, 1908, to June, 1909, inclusive, 370,684 
of al! arrivals have departed; this is over 
40 per cent. A number of such re-mi¬ 
grants discover in time that it is impossi¬ 
ble to make a living on the land which 
they purchased in their native country for 
amounts out of all proportion. They sell 
the same for whatever is paid to them, 
and migrate again to the United States, 
minus the bulk of their money, discouraged 
and old. The masses of our immigrants 
do not know that farms can be acquired 
here; some of them refuse to believe, until 
proved, that good farms with improve¬ 
ments can be purchased in New York State 
for from $10 to $25 per acre. Such farms 
are for sale, and can be bought on install¬ 
ment payments; immigrants will make 
such purchases if informed. The Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture of New York State 
does, on a small scale, disseminate in¬ 
formation to immigrants; the result 
achieved is encouraging. 
Real estate agents in every section 
should make efforts to sell farms to im¬ 
migrants; Hungarian, Italian and Slav im¬ 
migrants are hungry for tillable land and 
competent in farming. Systematic and ad¬ 
equate efforts to reach these parties by 
proper information, published in the lan¬ 
guages which the respective immigrants 
understand, would soon result in good fi¬ 
nancial returns to both the real-estate agent 
and the individual immigrant, besides, this 
would benefit our agriculture. Real-estate 
agents, if honest and scrupulous, will find 
immigrants good customers. Such parties 
should become permanent advertisements 
for future sales of farms, as they are 
bound to be followed, if properly treated, 
by relatives and friends. Let it be empha¬ 
sized; immigrants of the recently arrived 
races will have tillable land, they will ac¬ 
quire land in their native country if ig¬ 
norant of the opportunities of which they 
may avail themselves in this country, but 
they gladly will stay here and augment 
our agriculture if proper information is 
extended to them; information for immi¬ 
grants must be in the languages which they under¬ 
stand. Of course it is necessary, that our Legislature 
should, enact laws to regulate and supervise the “pri¬ 
vate banks” who stimulate our immigrants to export 
their savings and to re-migratc to their respective 
native lands. Immigrants should, hereafter, not be 
obstructed in becoming Americanized. An immigra¬ 
tion bill should be enacted; a State office should he 
established to enforce the law; Congress should create 
postal savings banks. Soon thereafter we would not 
only have the best markets for agricultural products, 
but also prosperous agriculture, and good conditions 
in general. _ lajos steiner. 
CHICKENS AND FRUITS. 
How To Form the Combination. 
I was interested in the advice Mr. White gave to 
the man with 13 acres who wanted to raise poultry 
and small fruits. On page 863, he tells 11. F. M. to 
raise his chickens in his orchard, and a little later 
advises growing strawberries between peaches. II. F. 
M. ought to be warned not to try to grow strawberries 
where his hens can get into them. I have learned by 
sad experience that there is nothing a healthy hen 
likes to scratch in as much as the litter covering the 
strawberries in Winter, and nothing tastes so good 
to biddy as the fruit buds of those same strawberries. 
Anyway, I don’t think a man with only 13 acres, with 
a living to make off them ought to try to grow both 
hens and strawberries. The two don’t go well to¬ 
gether. The berry season comes just when he ought 
to be busiest with his young chicks. Strawberries 
require more care and more experience than any other 
small fruit, and when marketing time comes there is 
always the danger of a glut unless Ihc berries ary 
the kind the Hope Farm man produces, and not many 
beginners grow that kind. My advice to If. F. M. is 
to concentrate on the peaches and raspberries, both 
<rf which can be marketed after the rush in the poul¬ 
try is over. I believe grapes go well with chickens 
if the market can be found. Then I would advise II. 
F. M. to put every square foot he can spare from his 
fruit into corn for his hens. And let: him grow a 
good patch of cabbage for Winter green food. I 
have the greatest faith in chickens if they have the 
room to range, but they ought not to have a straw¬ 
berry plantation to range over, that is if the owner 
expects to sell the strawberries. Let 11. F. M. read 
and meditate upon the story of the Indiana straw¬ 
EMIL GRAFF’S SEEDLING GRAPE. Fig, 509. See page 928. 
berry grower printed on the same page of The R. 
N.-Y. as his query and Mr. White's answer. The In¬ 
diana man figures a profit of $19.98 from three- 
quarters of an acre of strawberries. Raspberries can 
beat that nine times out of ten, and with half the 
labor. There are too many strawberries grown any¬ 
how. '['here never were too many eggs or roasters. 
G. T. H. 
R. Nh-Y.—We find it much harder to get pickers 
for bush fruits than for strawberries. 
MOVING PICTURES AT INSTITUTES. 
Not Practical in New York. 
I have read your suggestion that farmers’ institute 
speakers carry a moving picture outfit with them in 
their work. It would be a good thing if practicable. 
The man who penned that suggestion in your editorial, 
page 772, is like so many other contributors to agri¬ 
cultural journals, who are versed in thinking a lot and 
doing a little. Have you any idea what it would cost 
to get up a roll of films. An electric light is neces¬ 
sary to show the pictures distinctly, and where would 
you get that at more than half the places where in¬ 
stitutes are held? 
I once had your idea, but an experience dispelled it. 
'I'lie Department of Agriculture could not for a mo¬ 
ment think of buying a lantern, so I bought one and 
paid for it from my own earnings. The Department 
of Education furnish an outfit with hydro-oxygen gas, 
which is possible to do for their teachers’ institute 
meetings of five days’ duration and always on the 
line of a railroad, and gas tanks can be refilled and 
forwarded by express. That cannot be done with 
farmers’ institutes at cross-road stands. At one time 
our team was two weeks away from the sound of a 
locomotive whistle. For an illumination I chose 
acetylene gas. With a light having so much less power 
than an electric I needed the best of lenses, and I 
bought an outfit costing $ll<), including the gas gen¬ 
erator. I had to use slides. On one subject I had a 
series of 21. Other subjects took five to 10 slides. I 
usually spoke for about an hour. Compact as my out¬ 
fit was, it was much in the way when riding over the 
hills in the cold with a staff of speakers and a driver. 
I have never been able to learn if the audience cared 
much for the illustrations. At least the Department 
never asked for its repetition, and my $110 outfit lies 
up in the attic unused. When I go out to institutes 
now 1 go and do as the others do, go 
empty-handed and just spout. I cannot see 
but that is all the same to the public. 
JOHN w. spencer. 
A Successful Use in Louisiana- 
I have Edison’s moving picture equip¬ 
ment, consisting of the moving picture 
machine and stereopticon, with provision 
for the use of electricity or oxyhydrogen 
light. I have found the oxyhydrogen light 
fairly successful, but rather expensive. I 
ajso have an oxygen generating machine 
for using the oxylith and oxone for genera¬ 
ting the oxygen, and ether saturator for 
furnishing the hydrogen flame. 1 estimate 
that it costs about $2 for an hour’s lecture 
with the oxyhydrogen light. The gas gen¬ 
erator 1 believe is more satisfactory, but 
a little more expensive than the oxygen 
cylinders. Where people arc accustomed to 
seeing pictures strongly lighted with elec¬ 
tric light, the oxyhydrogen light will not 
be very satisfactory. It only gives about 
one-half the illumination of the electric 
light. Still, in country places the people 
are very well satisfied with the results 
secured. 
Of the films that I have, the following 
are the more important: Sulky plows 
breaking land, corn harvesters, grain har¬ 
vesters, hay mowing machines, all in op¬ 
eration ; parade of live stock at the Iowa 
State Fair, parade of premium live stock 
at the International at Chicago, road ma¬ 
chine engines hauling heavy load on a 
macadamized road. I also have a few of 
the stock yards at Chicago, showing the 
cattle being driven to slaughter, and a few 
showing the slaughtering of hogs in the 
packing plants. I also have a very good 
view on a poultry farm’ showing the feed¬ 
ing of the poultry and demonstration of 
the use of the trap coops keeping a record 
of the hens in laying eggs. [ have short 
pieces of film showing young suckling pigs 
and some suckling lambs. I have a film 
taken on a rice plantation showing the 
harvest and thrashing of the rice, but the 
film is not very good. It is not easy to get 
first-class pictures of desired subjects. 
You arc mistaken in thinking that I was the first 
to use these pictures in this way. I think probably 
Assistant Secretary Hays of the United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture was among the first to use them, 
and he had some special films made showing their work 
in wheat breeding at the Minnesota Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. Mr. Amoss, who has charge of the farmers’ in¬ 
stitute work in Maryland, has also used this means 
of illustration. 1 believe, however, that the time is 
coming when extensive use of the moving picture 
will be made for instruction purposes and that we 
shall be able to secure films illustrating all kinds of 
improved implements for illustration and that many 
phases of advanced agricultural practice can be illus¬ 
trated in this way. 
At one time I took some preliminary steps toward 
getting all of the farmers’ institute people to join in 
the expense of having pictures made for illustrating 
purposes, but did not meet with very much encourage¬ 
ment, and so abandoned the project. The manufac¬ 
turers at the time wanted a guarantee of the sale of 
35 sets at 12 cents per foot for the finished film be¬ 
fore they would make the special films. 1 think it is 
probable that if some one would take up the matter 
and push it energetically they could secure the sale 
of 35 films, and could get a good firm to manufacture 
a set of films that would be suitable for illustrating 
some phases of agricultural practice that could not be 
brought before the public in any other way. 
Louisiana F.xp. Stat'on. w. r. pooson. 
